Cam Heyward: What Improving to 3-1 Would Mean for Steelers’ AFC North Outlook

Cam Heyward was in a much better mood this Tuesday. A win over the Bengals will do that. So will a defensive stop that ended the game with the ball flying out of Joe Burrow's hands.

The Steelers defensive tackle joined Rich from a conference room at the team facility, with an image of old Three Rivers Stadium behind him. "Did not play there, but I know I'm old," Heyward joked, before recalling how Mike Tomlin used to tease him by announcing they were "bringing back all your old teammates this week," meaning Mel Blount and Joe Greene.

This week's guest on his podcast, Not Just Football, was Derrick Harmon, who "balled out" with a sack fumble to end the game. Heyward walked Rich through it. Burrow had been on fire early, starting something like 14 for 14, but Pittsburgh settled in over the last two drives. "We were tackling well, keeping them in bounds," Heyward said, which forced Cincinnati to burn timeouts. Harmon got a great jump and used a push-pull move, Burrow scrambled, "and the ball just goes flying off his hands." Sebastian Joseph-Day dove on it, and later told Heyward there were "some violations" happening in the pile. Rich asked what kind. "Of the jewels," Heyward said. "I'll say that."

He also gave Harmon some grief for being an Oregon Duck, which led to Dan Lanning's line about going to USC for a Chris Brown concert but going to Oregon to win. "That is spot on," Heyward said.

A week earlier, Heyward had been on the show talking Steelers fans off the ledge. "This is just a flattering moment for me where I can just say I was right," he said. He ran through Roman Wilson, Ben Skowronek, DK Metcalf, Darnell Washington and Jaylen Warren. "I guess you would put in the Louvre for all the great plays we had on offense."

Rich asked what it is like watching Darnell Washington force tacklers into business decisions. "Selfishly, I'm like, damn, what if I was on that side of the ball, too?" Heyward said. "This is not something a corner or a linebacker wants to deal with alone."

The turnaround is short. Pittsburgh plays at Cleveland on Thursday night, and Rich pointed out the Steelers have not won there since 2021. Heyward, who noted Ohio "was my state" and now gives him "more boos these days," pinned it on execution. "In those Thursday night games, it comes down to execution and we have not executed a high enough level to win those games," he said, recalling a 13-9 loss last year. "We're trying to turn a new leaf and get this W on a Thursday, enjoy that long weekend."

Rich laid out the stakes. A 3-1 start, 2-0 on short weeks, with Cincinnati hosting Jacksonville and Baltimore trying to hold serve against Tennessee. Heyward liked the picture but refused to get ahead of it. "I would love to walk into this weekend and say AFC North, figure it out, y'all got to catch us," he said. "But that's not going to be easy." He admitted his little brother Corey was ready to jump off the bandwagon after two weeks and has since become more of a Raiders fan because they are 3-0. "We can't jump the gun. We just got to lock in and take care of our business."

Asked for the best AFC team he has seen outside his own, Heyward called it "an arms race." Among the unbeaten teams, he pegged Buffalo as the frontrunner, noting the Bills turned it over around five times and still won.

Winning freed Heyward up to watch other games, including the Bears' Monday night win. Rich was struck by how present Case Keenum seemed. Heyward credited Ben Johnson. "He's going to put you in the right situation. He's going to make you feel comfortable," he said. "When he's kissing his family before, you feel like, oh, Case has got that swag back." He loved Keenum's long QB sneak and said it shows why teams need a real backup, adding Pittsburgh is fortunate to have Mason Rudolph.

Then Rich got to the officiating, and Heyward did not hold back. On the pass interference call against the Rams on Sunday night: "Little dicey. I don't think it was pass interference." He pointed to a call in the Steelers' own game, where Metcalf made a clean inside-out seal block and a flag thrown from the sideline wiped out a run. "That's not even his call to make," Heyward said. "These flags are a little bit inconsistent right now," and "there's been some critical calls that can cost games."

On the roughing the passer flag after Chop Robinson sacked Patrick Mahomes, Heyward's face said it all before he did. "I don't think it was," he said, adding he got a similar penalty last season. He even admitted he first thought the viral clip of Mahomes was AI because someone had added a pillow underneath him. "You're damned if you do, damned if you don't," Heyward said. "If you don't wrap up and he spins out of it, what are you supposed to do?" Rich backed him up, noting Robinson let his arms go to show he was not landing with his full weight.

Chris brought up the late hit flag on Jalen Hurts near the sideline Monday night, and Heyward went further. "I think we struggle so much as an NFL when we let quarterbacks play this little game on the sideline instead of them either getting the ball out quicker or sliding or just throwing the ball out of bounds," he said. "They have way too many options." His solution is simple. "If they want to get hit, they're going to get hit."

As for the Eagles, Rich noted Ben Johnson may just have Vic Fangio's number. Heyward agreed that "coaching matters," but added that Philadelphia's offense did not play well enough either. "Everybody's got to take accountability for wins and losses."