In the midst of a three-game losing streak, a consistent talking point from former players, members of the media, and just about everybody else was the fading notion of the Steeler Way. A few people have tried to quantify exactly that means, but it is difficult to defend when the team is actively throwing its season away with the losing streak and all of the culture issues that popped up as a result of players like WR George Pickens and WR Diontae Johnson and their effort when the ball doesn’t come their way.
Now that the losing streak is over, there is more room to talk about this subject without drawing intense scrutiny. DT Cameron Heyward discussed this subject on his Wednesday morning episode of Not Just Football on ESPN’s NFL YouTube channel.
“The culture is guys locked in sacrificing [for] each other and making sure that the team is put before yourself,” Heyward said. “And I think that is the Steelers Way. And I think that was, if you look at what happened this past week, that was a clear example of that. You had Mason [Rudolph] step in, your third quarterback, and before the game everybody just said, ‘We’re putting the ball in your hands. We’re gonna make sure we take care of you.’ Everybody contributed to that.”
With their backs against the wall, the Steelers responded with their most complete team performance of the entire season. The offense put up its highest point total of the season, the defense limited the Bengals to 11 points and had multiple takeaways to help set up the offense. The one time the defense faltered, allowing an explosive play touchdown to WR Tee Higgins at the beginning of the second half, the offense immediately responded with a deep touchdown of its own. The Steelers won because of excellent complementary football.
“It’s not just one guy with an ‘S’ on his chest,” Heyward said. “We continue to keep saying that. It’s the group that gets it done.”
Some will point to the Bengals’ injuries and say that the Steelers perhaps should have beaten them, but Pittsburgh is dealing with as many injuries as anybody—especially on defense. They were playing with two safeties that haven’t started at that position this season and an inside linebacker in Myles Jack who was retired a little over a month ago. Not to mention QB Mason Rudolph, who has only started two games since 2020. The way this team rallied around him and pulled off its most complete win of the season shows that the “next man up” and “Steeler Way” mantras live on, even if they look slightly different in this era of football.
