Late in the fourth quarter of the Monday Night Football matchup against the Cleveland Browns at Acrisure Stadium a loud chant broke out among the disgruntled members of Steeler Nation.
The chants echoed throughout the stadium on the North Shore as the Steelers offense continued to sputter. It was in the midst of generating minus-seven yards of offense in the fourth quarter against the Browns before the defense found a way to win the game for the Black and Gold.
Some players who spoke to the media after the 26-22 win stated that they didn’t hear the chants from the fans, while head coach Mike Tomlin added Tuesday morning that he loves the passion from the fan base.
But star defensive lineman Cameron Heyward, who is currently on Injured Reserve after having surgery on his groin and was on the sideline Monday night, acknowledged on the latest episode of his podcast “Not Just Football w/ Cam Heyward” that he heard the chants.
“Fans are entitled to their opinion and we don’t run from it. But I think the thing we all have to realize is it’s a team game and not everybody’s gonna be perfect. You can’t run away from the criticism,” Heyward said to co-host Hayden Walsh, according to video via the NFL on ESPN YouTube page. “We’re paid handsomely to do this profession, and there’s gonna be naysayers and people are gonna have a say in what they want, what they expect. …Going forward, you have to learn to expect the lumps though. There are going to be times where you have to grow. I haven’t been down on a season because of two games ever before, and I’m not gonna start now.
“There are going to be hard times. I don’t think anyone would shy away from that, and it’s not just on Kenny’s [Pickett] plate, it’s on the entire offense, and I think we have to be honest with what we’re doing. You have to be honest with what we’re good at and honest with what we’re not good at. You hear the chants and you’re like, ‘That’s not happening.’ We did enough to get the W. Was it pretty? No, and I repeat that. No. But, going forward, we cannot continue to keep making the same mistakes.”
Heyward later clarified on Twitter in response to the article, stating that he was referencing the Steelers as a team with “we,” rather than just the offense, when stating that they can’t continue to keep making the same mistakes.
To his credit, Heyward is the first one to truly acknowledge that he heard the chants in real time. While players after the game were more politically correct in stating that fans are entitled to their opinion and that they appreciate the passion that the fan base brings to the table for the Black and Gold, especially at home, Heyward was the first one to truly acknowledge the offense’s struggles.
Coming out of the preseason, expectations were very high for Pittsburgh’s offense, thanks to five drives for five touchdowns by the starters in the preseason. Those drives included 28 plays for 315 yards and saw the Steelers generate a number of explosive plays.
Then, the regular season started, and the offense somehow looks worse than it did in 2022 with a bunch of new faces early on and Canada truly implementing his offensive scheme.
The rebuilt offensive line hasn’t been able to protect Pickett or generate any sort of run game for the Steelers. The second-year quarterback has missed some layup-like throws, which has bogged down the offense, and there just generally hasn’t been much explosion or creativity overall.
That led to the boos and the chants on Monday Night Football.
Though the Steelers came through with the win, those concerns and irritation from the fan base regarding the much-maligned offensive coordinator remain. Pittsburgh has now played 37 games without a 400-yard performance offensively, and they Steelers have still scored just 30-plux points twice in those 37 games of the Canada tenure.
On Monday night, Pittsburgh generated just 255 yards of total offense. What’s more frustrating? On seven of the 53 plays run by the Steelers offense Monday night, the Steelers racked up 207 yards. The other 45 plays generated 53 yards. That’s not good enough. It hasn’t been good enough the last two years and isn’t getting any better.
The offense needs to be better, as Heyward stated. Pickett needs to play better, the offensive line has to execute better, and Canada needs to be a bit more creative and purposeful in his play calling. Heyward isn’t running from the criticism, and neither are the Steelers.
