The Pittsburgh Steelers won this week, but nothing about that game was easy. The Washington Commanders gave them a fight that lasted all four quarters. Early on, the Steelers were dominating, but a failed fake punt deep in their own territory gave the Commanders a ton of momentum. The call wasn’t bad, but corner James Pierre just couldn’t haul in the pass. It was an unfortunate situation, and Cam Heyward wasn’t going to let Pierre get down over that play.
“Just let it go,” Heyward said after the game via the team’s YouTube channel. “We all mess up. I can’t tell you the amount of times I’ve messed up or another player’s messed up.
“If we had lost this game and we had said this is the reason why we lost, I think that’s incomplete. Every game is full of little spurts where guys can make plays. Whenever something happens like that, we rally around them. We make more plays.”
Pierre’s play came near the middle of the first quarter, and it looked like he was going to coast to a first down. He couldn’t reel in the catch, though. It’s a cliché, but there’s a reason why he’s a defender. It did give the Commanders incredible field position, but the Steelers defense still could’ve gotten a stop. Heyward is correct that there’s no use placing any blame on Pierre.
The Steelers did eventually win, so all’s well that ends well. Maybe the conversation would be a little different if they had lost, but that didn’t happen, so there’s no use talking about it. Besides, Pierre came back and made a great play on defense.
Late in the game, the Commanders had an opportunity to drive down the field and put the Steelers away with a touchdown. Quarterback Jayden Daniels took a deep shot down the sidelines, but Pierre broke up the pass. It was a good play that definitely helped make up for his mistake earlier.
That just goes to show how true Heyward’s message is. Everyone messes up. It happens. The important part is bouncing back and being better next time. That was on full display with Pierre. With Donte Jackson leaving the game with an injury, the other corners on the roster needed to step up. Instead of getting down on himself, Pierre held his head high and helped the Steelers win.
