The Pittsburgh Steelers had not won in Philadelphia since 1962. The Philadelphia Eagles have owned the series against their interstate rival, and with Sunday's victory, they were moving to 49-29-3 after embarrassing the Steelers 35-13 on national television. The Steelers had very few highlights Sunday and even the captain of the defense, Cameron Heyward looked like a beaten man in his postgame presser:
#steelers captain Cam Heyward on accountability needed @937theFan pic.twitter.com/Ov2Y5ImqQv
— Jeff Hathhorn (@jhathhorn) October 30, 2022
“Either you learn and are accountable, or you are not going to play,” a dejected Heyward said. “We are going into Week 8 or something, and we’ve given chances. If you can’t do it, you won’t play.”
The Steelers defense through eight weeks has given the team a chance to win five times. They ran out of gas against the Cleveland Browns and were outclassed by the Buffalo Bills and the Philadelphia Eagles. Ahkello Witherspoon was burned repeatedly by A.J. Brown and Jalen Hurts in the first half and was benched at halftime. The only thing that slowed the duo down was the class that Nick Sirianni showed in not running up a score that could have been much worse.
“That goes for everybody,” Heyward concluded. “Not singling anyone out, but as a leader, I got to take most of the blame. It’s better to look yourself in the mirror and realize I have got to get better.”
Karl Roser / Pittsburgh Steelers
It is doubtful that Heyward meant Witherspoon because the team has plenty of blame to go around. Looking at just the defense, Minkah Fitzpatrick misplayed the first Brown touchdown. He appeared to get caught in between going for an interception and laying the wood on the Eagles playmaker in the end zone. A decisive move either way would have resulted in a positive play for the Steelers. Fitzpatrick rarely makes mistakes, but it set the wrong tone early.
Abigail Dean / Pittsburgh Steelers
The Pro Bowl defensive tackle has seldom looked this dejected in a banner career. He is on the worst Steelers team of this century and the players have to look to each other for answers. They know they are going to be out-schemed on Sundays at this point, the only question is will that margin be close enough to where the superior playmakers can overcome it and maybe win a close game.
The defense is going to look dominant if T.J. Watt is healthy, but they cannot be complacent. If Watt, Fitzpatrick, and Heyward play lights out down the stretch, the organization cannot fall into the trap of thinking 7-10 meant it was just bad luck with injuries. It definitely isn’t the 1976 team when the best defense in NFL history went from 1-4 to the AFC Championship game just by beating teams senseless and shutting out more opponents than they gave up touchdowns down the stretch of that season.
Cam Heyward arrives for game against the Philadelphia Eagles on Sunday October 30th, 2022. | Abigail Dean / Pittsburgh Steelers
Heyward is in his mid-thirties and with some intelligent game management and assuming he wants to play going forward, he could easily have another two or three Pro Bowl level seasons. But the clock is ticking on his career and sadly, he knows it. He could be the greatest Steelers player in the Super Bowl era to never play in an AFC Championship game. The only time in his career that the Steelers made one, he was injured.
What do you think, Steeler Nation? Will the Steelers be contenders again before Heyward sails off into the sunset? Please comment below, or on my Twitter @thebubbasq.
