Cam Heyward Has Been Key to Steelers Defensive Resurgence

The Pittsburgh Steelers are keeping their season alive behind their defense and a second-half show by Cam Heyward.

The Pittsburgh Steelers gave the city an early Christmas present by outlasting the Las Vegas Raiders in primetime on Christmas Even in frigid conditions. While it took the Steelers as a whole a long time to get rolling, their defensive captain was ready from jump street. 

Cam Heyward brought tears to many eyes in the stadium as he ran out of the tunnel with a black flag with Franco Harris' iconic #32 across it. Coming off of his best game of the season against the Carolina Panthers, Heyward continued to light it up in both phases of the game.

The five-time Pro Bowler set the tone for the defense early, registering his first of two sacks on the Raiders' opening series. Rookie left guard Dylan Parham got a "welcome to the league" moment from Heyward, as he was completely outmatched on this play, as he was for most of the afternoon. 

Heyward notched yet another sack on the season via his signature bull rush move. The amount of pure power behind his hands creates a massive knockback, essentially putting the left guard back in the quarterback's lap in an instant. 

Cam Heyward bull rushes the 311 lb Parham into Carr. @CamHeyward gets the sack. Keep it simple, keep it violent! #passrush #steelers pic.twitter.com/COdrVUDZ84

— DLineVids (@dlinevids1) December 25, 2022

The Raiders ended up scoring a touchdown on this particular drive just a couple of plays later, but that would be the only one the defense would allow on the entire night. 

Heyward wasn't done as a pass rusher, though. With the Steelers trailing 10-6 late in the fourth quarter, Heyward would beat Parham again with physicality, bringing down Derek Carr for his second sack of the afternoon. The Steelers got creative by dialing up a slot blitz with Minkah Fitzpatrick off the edge. Carr failed to notice that the slot defender was capped, a big tell for quarterbacks in identifying potential blitzers from third-level defenders. Carr made Fitzpatrick miss, but he wasn't getting away from Heyward as easily.

Of course, the former first-round pick was also his usual dominant against the run in Week 16. He added three tackles, two of which were considered run stops which resulted in unsuccessful plays from the Raiders' offense. Heyward is currently tied for fifth in the entire NFL with 27 run stops so far this season, which further showcases just how much of a force he's been upfront. 

Heyward played an integral role, but it was a total team effort in slowing down Raiders running back Josh Jacobs, who came into the week leading the league in rushing yards (1,216) while trailing only Derrick Henry in yards after contact created (819). 

Jacobs, who was just recently selected to his first Pro Bowl, finished the game with 44 rushing yards on 15 carries as his longest rush of the week went for only 11 yards. With the ugly playing conditions at hand, it was important that the Steelers set the tone early in slowing down the Raiders' rushing attack, making them more one-dimensional as the game moved along.

Cam Heyward's resurgence as a pass rusher since the bye week has played a monster role in the Steelers climbing out of a 2-6 hole and placing themselves back in the Wild Card conversation. Last week against the Panthers, Heyward racked up a season-high six pressures only to top that in Week 16 with seven against Las Vegas. Prior to the bye week, Heyward's pressure rate sat at 5.9% but has risen to an astounding 15.1% since the bye week concluded. The Steelers went from a bottom-five passing rushing unit earlier in the season to being in the middle of the pack since the bye week, and it's not simply the return of T.J. Watt in the lineup either. 

While he's not likely to receive All-Pro honors this year, Heyward's proven that he is still a really good player that fought off father time for at least one more season. His power profile is still elite and should offer some optimism in regards to him potentially finishing out his contract that runs through 2024. 

Beyond what he means to the Steelers' defensive line on the field, his impact as a leader in the locker room is unmeasurable. If you need any further evidence of that, just listen to his postgame press conference, specifically when he was commenting on the late Franco Harris. 

Cam Heyward has always shown a ton of respect to the legends before him and he's one of those players who just get it. He understands the high standards that come with wearing a black and gold jersey, and for the vast majority of his career, he's been lights out in every facet. 

Pittsburgh was able to come away victorious against the Raiders, and they surely made Franco Harris proud in the process. Their current playoff odds sit at 4%, according to fivethirtyeight.com, but that could be cut in half if the Las Angeles Chargers were to beat the Indianapolis Colts. Regardless of how the rest of this season ends, playoffs or not, Heyward and this Steelers team deserve plenty of praise for fighting till the bitter end when many other franchises would've folded and thrown in the towel to get ready for the NFL Draft in April. 

Pittsburgh has been lucky to have Cam Heyward for 12 seasons now and Week 16 was a perfect example of his impact, both on and off of the field. 

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