When the Steelers beat the Bills in Week One, it looked as if Pittsburgh might once again be a force in the AFC North in 2021.
But the last two weeks have made that season opener look like an anomaly.
Part of Pittsburgh’s problem has been the absence of edge rusher T.J. Watt, who injured his groin early on in Week Two’s loss to the Raiders and was inactive in Week Three. But the offense has also struggled, with Ben Roethlisberger looking more like an aging quarterback than an effective one.
The Steelers travel to Green Bay this week to take on the Packers, a game that could easily result in Pittsburgh falling to 1-3. But like head coach Mike Tomlin and Roethlisberger have said this week, defensive end Cam Heyward doesn’t think it’s time to panic.
“It’s time to bounce back,” Heyward said, via Teresa Varley of the team’s website. “I think we’ve been in both of these games and it’s come down to execution errors and mistakes on our end. Let’s see what we can learn from it. Let’s see if we can get just get a ‘W’ this week.”
Pittsburgh’s defense could get some reinforcements with Watt and Alex Highsmith potentially returning from injury. Both players were limited participants on Wednesday.
But Heyward said it’ll take a total team effort to defeat quarterback Aaron Rodgers and the Packers on Sunday.
“You know he’s a Hall of Fame quarterback and he’s at a high level, but it’s going to take not just the defense, but it going to take the offense going out and getting seven points,” Heyward said. “Special teams putting them in long yardage and creating splash off of that. And then we got to make the plays, we’re supposed to on defense. Sacks. Turnovers. They don’t have a lot of turnovers. But when you do get them, you’ve got to make sure you seize those opportunities.”