Cameron Heyward, the Pittsburgh Steelers’ defensive captain, has been among the most vocal about their issues. While he may choose his words more carefully than DeShon Elliott and Patrick Queen, he is no less upset about the current state of affairs.
He also knows as well as anybody who is and is not doing his job when the Steelers put the film on. After all, Heyward has watched this defense for most of his adult life, and the scheme hasn’t changed much. Communication is a problem, and that contributes to whether someone is doing his job or not. They need to address that—but it doesn’t have to be in public.
“I am verbal about it”, Heyward told Mark Kaboly about the Steelers’ issues with people not doing their jobs. “It doesn’t need to be said in the media or anything. It doesn’t matter where the leadership comes from. I just want the job done”.
While Queen and Elliott didn’t name names, some have questioned what is happening in Heyward’s defense. Even former Steelers S Ryan Clark questioned his counterpart, Elliott, for voicing things he believes belong in the locker room.
Personally, I didn’t have a problem with what anyone from Heyward to Elliott said. They didn’t say anything that Steelers fans didn’t already know because it’s there on tape. You simply don’t give up the plays they have been allowing if people were doing what they’re supposed to do and communicating properly. And the same people in the media questioning their comments would be saying what they said for them.
“From an execution standpoint, it’s dumbfounding”, Cameron Heyward said of the Steelers’ recent lapses over the past few games. “We have to get it done on those plays. We set up the meetings, we take it out to the field, but that means nothing if you don’t take it out to the game”.
Heyward acknowledged he can take some comfort in knowing that the Steelers have played much better this season than they are now. He knows they have the talent, the scheme, and the will to do better. And in the short weeks lately, they have had limited time to make adjustments and address the ongoing issues.
Heading into the season finale, the Steelers have that time, so if they can’t come out clean against the Cincinnati Bengals, we’ll know just how deep the problem is. And we can probably be reasonably confident Heyward won’t be winning his second postseason game. Then again, it’s not like the Texans are looking much better lately, and at the moment, that is their most likely playoff opponent.
