While many among the Pittsburgh Steelers’ fan base have spent the 12 hours since the 2024 schedule release worrying about the difficulty of the team’s schedule, the players themselves don’t see things the same way. Cameron Heyward released another episode of Not Just Football on Thursday morning and was asked about the schedule at the top of the show.
“Honestly, I don’t care,” Heyward said on his podcast, dismissing the chatter surrounding the Steelers’ difficult schedule. “You already announced the opponents, it’s just when we play ’em. I gotta prepare my body for 17 games plus, and we play who we play…everybody’s talking about it’s a gauntlet or it’s a tough schedule. It’s like Mortal Kombat, it’s either finish ’em or get finished. And so you take care of business and you fight the people in front of you.”
That sure sounds like a player who has spent his entire 13-year career under head coach Mike Tomlin, along the lines of his famous “don’t blink,” “nameless gray faces,” or “we don’t run away from challenges, we run to challenges,” sayings. But to a certain extent he is right. The opponents have been known for months, and it was already well-documented that the Steelers had one of the hardest schedules in the league.
The brutal eight-game stretch to finish out the season looks bad on paper, but they would have played these teams at some point regardless. If anything, it allows extra time for the offense to gel with all of the new parts before they face the hardest part of the schedule, and before they face a single divisional opponent.
“The way you look at it is, we have to play them,” Heyward said, responding to his co-host’s worries. “They gotta play us, and they gotta deal with our physical brand. So yes, it is what it is. I signed up for football. Let’s play football.”
The one thing that is somewhat concerning for the Steelers, and the defense that is among the oldest units in the league, is having two short weeks to deal with on the schedule. That is not something that was known prior to the schedule release and something that will have a tangible effect on the players. With a Thursday Night Football game in Week 12, and a Wednesday game in Week 17 on Christmas Day, the Steelers will have two occasions where they get just three days rest in between games.
“We’ve got the Wednesday night game, they’ve got the Wednesday night game, too,” Heyward said. “So don’t expect anyone to feel sorry for you. Every team’s gotta go through it. You just play through it.”
On both occasions, the Steelers will be playing the Baltimore Ravens in games prior to their short weeks. It is known as one of the most physical rivalries in football. Whether Heyward admits it or not, that is a tough hand of cards to be dealt.
