Pittsburgh Steelers’ Cameron Heyward vented to the media about his frustration with his team’s performance following this past Christmas day game vs. the Chiefs. The Steelers fell 29-10 to the Chiefs, which has left them with a 10-6 record. Heyward expanded on his thoughts and noted his concerns were actually regarding the last three weeks of poor play his team put out on the field.
“The last three weeks, we played like shit,” Heyward said, according to Mike DeFabo of The Athletic. “Simple as that. I own that. Every player’s got to own it in here.” The previous two games Heyward was referring to were losses to the Ravens and Eagles. The Steelers, however, have currently clinched a playoff birth following recent losses by the Dolphins and Colts.
The Steeler’s recent struggles have happened amid a below-average offensive season
Despite clinching a playoff spot, the Steelers are currently a below-average offensive team. Currently, the Steeler’s offense ranks 18th in yards per game. When putting that into perspective with other teams, the Cowboys and Dolphins are currently ranked higher in yards per game.
Mike Tomlin equates the struggles down to a lack of fundamentals, “Not the type of ball we want to play, and, really, kinda eerily similar to our last performance in that we’re not doing the fundamental things well enough,” Mike Tomlin told reporters after the loss.
Heyward’s teammate, Alex Highsmith, expressed a similar discontent with his team’s performance and summed it up as the locker room currently having a sense of apathy.
“There’s got to be a want to. There’s not enough of that right now,” Steelers edge rusher Alex Highsmith said Wednesday, according to ESPN’s Brooke Pryor.
Over the past three games, Heyward’s individual performance has not faltered
Over the past three games, Heyward recorded 15 combined tackles, which is greater than his current season average of 4.38 combined tackles per game.
Unfortunately, the Steeler’s defense appeared to underperform overall by allowing more points the past three games than their current season average of 22.4 points per game. The trend started with their loss to the Eagles when they allowed 27 points scored. In their next loss to the Ravens, the Steelers allowed 34 points scored, then 29 points scored against them vs. the Chiefs on Christmas. The Steelers have only won two games this season when allowing more than 22.4 points scored.
Heyward’s solo performance this season as a Defensive Tackle matches much of his most recent Pro Bowl season in 2022. That year Heyward’s recorded 74 combined tackles through 17 games started. Currently, Heyward’s has recorded 70 combined tackles this season through 16 games started.
Relative to the NFL’s tackle leaders, Heyward is the highest combined tackle leader in the NFL for Defensive Tackles. Jeffery Simmons of the Tennessee Titans is next in line this season with 67 combined tackles but finishes 119th overall in compassion to the rest of the league’s tackle leaders.
In comparison with Heyward’s combined tackles, the Defensive Lineman with the most combined tackles this season is A’Shawn Robinson (Defensive End) of the Carolina Panthers with 72 combined tackles, just three more than Heyward.
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