Pittsburgh Steelers DL Cam Heyward takes his role as a leader seriously. He’s spoken words of support for teammates like WR George Pickens and shouldered responsibility rather than push blame for when the team struggles.
So it makes Heyward’s comments Wednesday morning to Mike Golic and Mike Golic Jr. a bit more interesting. Heyward joined the GoJo and Golic show on the DraftKings Network and Golic Jr. asked him about what the Steelers need to do to be contenders.
“It starts with consistency throughout the team,” Heyward said. “Whether it’s the offensive side of the ball or the defensive side of the ball. I know we’ve made a lot of changes on the offensive side of the ball in coaching-related points. But having that consistency where we’re able to balance each other out and show hope for each other… You’ve got to play complementary football, and I don’t think we do that as well. But I’m looking forward to a lot of the changes we’re making right now, really addressing that, and allow us to be a full and complete football team.”
It’s not hard to read into Heyward’s comments and feel like he’s glad to see the Steelers actually trying to improve their offense. During the season, despite the constant struggles on offense to score points, Heyward was quick to dismiss those concerns and focus on what his defense could have done better. At least publicly, Heyward was more frustrated about how the defense responded to the offense’s turnovers rather than with the turnovers themselves.
And frankly, that’s the attitude you want out of your defenders. They cannot control what the offense does, only how they react to it. However, in a year when the Steelers only had 13 total passing touchdowns (less than LB T.J. Watt’s sack total), it would be understandable to be frustrated by the lack of help that the defense got.
That’s not to say the defense couldn’t be better. The Steelers allowed 23 passing touchdowns last season, 17th in the league. They gave up almost 2,000 yards rushing, 19th in the league. Heyward has been consistent in his calls for, well, consistency. He knows that the defense could do more.
It now sounds like Heyward is willing to admit that the offense needs to do better. He even said that he’s “looking forward” to what the team has already done in terms of changes, and the vast majority of the changes have occurred on the offensive side of the ball. He specifically notes the coaching changes on offense, and that begins with new offensive coordinator Arthur Smith. Now it’s simply a matter of whether Smith is able to make big changes to the results on the field.
Or not.
