Pittsburgh Steelers’ defensive tackle Cameron Heyward is starting to make batting passes at the line of scrimmage a work of art.
Coming into Sunday’s game against the Los Angeles Chargers on Sunday Night Football at Sofi Stadium with six on the season, Heyward was becoming a real weapon in the trenches when it came to getting his hands up in passing lanes, helping out the linebackers and defensive backs behind him.
After recording an interception off of his own batted pass two weeks ago against the Chicago Bears on Monday Night Football, Heyward came up huge again in primetime, batting a Justin Herbert pass into the air in the fourth quarter, resulting in an interception by Cameron Sutton, setting up a Ben Roethlisberger to Pat Freiermuth touchdown, knotting the game up at 34-34.
Speaking with reporters following the loss to the Chargers, Heyward addressed the batted pass that led to Sutton’s interception.
“They went empty. Main thing for us, we knew the ball was coming out quick. Get your hands up,” Heyward said to reporters following the game, according to video via the Steelers’ official YouTube page. “I think Bugs [Isaiah Buggs] had gotten a couple of tips early on, so I was just trying to get my hand in the passing lane and then Cam Sutton made a heck of a play, caught it and gave the offense a short field.”
In a year in which the Steelers’ defense has struggled to create turnovers, it’s quite impressive that a defensive tackle can have this much of an impact all one his own when it comes to creating interceptions simply by getting his hands up in passing lanes.
