The Pittsburgh Steelers value continuity at all levels. They have only had three head coaches since 1969. They also prefer to build through the draft and develop players who end up becoming Steelers for life. Those layers of continuity have provided this team with a great tradition passed down from the great teams of the 1970s, all the way to guys like WR Hines Ward, OLB James Harrison, S Troy Polamalu, and many others. Former Steelers QB Ben Roethlisberger openly wondered on his podcast this week if the “Steeler Way” tradition had come to an end.
Defensive captain and longtime Steeler Cameron Heyward appeared on Good Morning Football on NFL Network Thursday morning and was asked about those Roethlisberger comments.
“Ben has an opinion. He’s entitled to that, but I don’t agree. We lost these last two games. It’s been rough, but the Steelers Way is about grinding it out and it doesn’t matter what’s going on,” Heyward said. “So there is plenty to be done about it, and tradition starts by winning games, having good defense, scoring points. So hopefully we can adjust that this week.”
RB Najee Harris wasn’t sure how to answer Roethlisberger’s critique when asked about it on Wednesday, saying “maybe he’s right”. A lot of the locker room issues this season have been from players on the offensive side of the ball. The unit doesn’t have a veteran leader that has been around with the organization for a long time. WR Diontae Johnson is the longest tenured starter on that side of the ball, and he’s had his own issues this season. Other than him, every starter is either on their rookie contract or was an external free agent signed by the team sometime in the last couple seasons. It is easy to see how there might be growing pains while establishing leadership and an offensive identity under the new guard.
The defense has been asked to carry the team throughout the course of the season, but injuries and communication issues have caught up to that group over the two-game losing streak. This is the first time the team has lost consecutive games all season, so the pressure from the media and fan base is understandably turned up a notch. It also doesn’t help that the Steelers played on Thursday Night Football last week and had nine days in between games to stew over their losses.
The remedy to this whole situation is winning. If the Steelers can put together consecutive wins over the next two weeks, there will be a renewed sense of optimism surrounding the team. Their playoff chances will have gone from 25 percent all the way up to 70-plus percent. One of the big critiques of the Steelers over the last several years has been their lack of playoff success. If the Steelers can get in the playoffs, they will have a chance to right the ship. If that happens, the chatter of losing the great team tradition will quiet down. Heyward knows this, and so he is keeping his head down and “grinding it out.”
