On Thursday prior to practice, DL Cam Heyward spoke to the media about the team’s upcoming game against the Atlanta Falcons and gave some of his thoughts on the team’s previous game against the Indianapolis Colts. Heyward was also messed with for having to wear a Michigan sweatshirt after losing a bet with teammate Chris Wormley regarding the outcome of the Michigan/Ohio State game this past weekend.
When asked about his thoughts on the offense who managed to put together a pivotal drive in the fourth quarter to score the go-ahead TD, Heyward commended the offense’s ability to come up big when the team needed it most.
“Very encouraging,” Heyward said regarding the offense Monday night to the media on video from Chris Adamski’s Twitter page. “I always say, if our defense is on the sideline, that’s a good sign. And them sustaining drives, converting third downs, it’s huge and they have to continue to do it. I can pat them on the back, but it doesn’t help them going forward. We got to keep doing this and we got to keep getting better.”
Heyward expressed his pleasure seeing the offense finally be able to put together a performance in the second half that helped Pittsburgh come out of Indy Monday night with a win. However, he also was quick to mention that he isn’t going to overdo signing the offense’s praises either after one solid drive at the end of the game.
The fact of the matter is that Pittsburgh’s offense has been poor for most of the season up to this point. They currently ranked 28th in the league in total yards and points, and while the running game has come on strong as of late, the passing game still remains one of the worst in the league in terms of yardage as well as being dead-last in TD thrown by the Steelers’ QBs.
To the offense’s credit, they have had to overcome various growing pains including the development of a rookie QB, the gelling of the offensive line, and the integration of new weapons like George Pickens into the offense. Pair all of that with the often-scrutinized play calling/scheme of OC Matt Canada, and you are sure to experience some rough patches down the road.
Still, excuses aren’t going to get you anywhere in the National Football League, and Heyward is used to having his defense compliment a high-powered offense led by Ben Roethlisberger with superstars like Le’Veon Bell, Antonio Brown, and various other weapons racking up yards and scoring points on a weekly basis. It’s not fair to expect the offense to get there by the end of this season, but for this team to return to playoff contention, Heyward knows that the standard of expectations needs to be higher than what the offense accomplished last night. He will celebrate with them in the moment but recognizes that there is still a lot of work that needs to be done offensively to make this team relevant again.
