While the Steelers are already in the postseason, captain Cameron Heyward doesn’t want to back in. Mired in a three-game losing streak, he addressed the team this past week about being proactive in changing bad habits.
“Don’t assume this shit’s gonna get done, man”, Heyward said during a Steelers segment of the latest episode of Hard Knocks, which aired Tuesday night on HBO. “Attack practice. Attack the weight room. Attack the film room. If we’re gonna get this shit right, it’s got to be an effort put toward that shit. Don’t just assume the shit’s gonna change, because that’s our problem. We’re not being accountable and learning from this shit. We’ve got to get this shit right together”.
After getting off to a 10-3 start, the Steelers have had a three-game skid. While they faced an uphill battle against tough opponents on short weeks amid key injuries, and mostly on the road, the fact is they looked uncompetitive. And you know Cameron Heyward won’t stand for that.
Over the past three games, the Steelers have been outscored by a 90-40 margin. Their lone home game, on Christmas Day against the Kansas City Chiefs, may have been their lowlight. The Chiefs “only” scored 29 points, yet Heyward and company rarely looked capable of slowing them down.
Most egregious has been a series of communication lapses, going on for weeks now. Against the Chiefs, the Steelers allowed multiple lay-up touchdowns simply by communicating poorly about coverage responsibilities. While that doesn’t fall directly on Heyward as a rush man, he is the captain of this unit.
His profanity-laced speech certainly bares out how seriously he takes the issue. Heyward knows the Steelers are killing themselves right now with the avoidable mistakes they’re making. One can’t help but wonder the details behind his comments, though.
Heyward says, for example, that the Steelers are “not being accountable and learning from” their mistakes. While we can ascertain that just by virtue of the fact that they’re repeating the same or similar mistakes, is there some deeper issue to which he refers? Are there players he feels are not taking things as seriously as they should? Or was he simply being the proverbial bad cop?
Not only have the Steelers allowed 30 points per game during their three-game losing streak, they have also allowed over 400 yards per game. And they have only taken the ball away three times after recording 28 takeaways in their first 13 games.
In the season finale, the Steelers should have a full complement on defense. CB Joey Porter Jr. is the last starter to return after missing time due to injury. In other words, the defense has no excuses if it continues to have the same issues. And if that happens, the parties responsible will have to answer to Heyward.
