Steelers defensive end and team captain Cameron Heyward was adamant Monday afternoon. Giving up 45 points to the Jacksonville Jaguars in Sunday’s playoff game at Heinz Field is 100 percent on the players. The inability to stop the run, the receivers running open all over the field, the miscommunication, mental lapses, all of it rests with the players and not the coaches who devised the game plan.
“It’s not the scheme,” Heyward said a day after the Steelers season ended with a 45-42 playoff loss to the Jaguars. “I think we had a great game plan, but execution has to be part of the situation. When you don’t execute on your assignments … it doesn’t matter what you play. You’re sacrificing the team’s success over your own. That’s a critical thing we have to learn from as a group. If one guy doesn’t do his job, then you’re hurting the other 10 guys. I’m not trying to point one guy out. We all have to get better from this. It falls a lot on me, being the defensive leader. We have to grow.”
Head coach Mike Tomlin and defensive coordinator Keith Butler are under fire after the early exit from the playoffs. The Jaguars controlled the game from the outset with their ability to run the ball and their ability to execute a short passing game.
“Coaches can only do so much,” Heyward said. “If players don’t execute, then it looks poorly on them? That doesn’t add up to me. There’s a discord there between the player and the player executing. I think the coaches did an amazing job preparing us.”
The Jaguars rushed for 164 yards Sunday. In October, they rushed for 231 and beat the Steelers by 21 points. In two games against the Steelers this season the Jaguars scored 70 points.
Heyward said porous run defense is the main reason the Jaguars had so much success in both games.
“I don’t know about changes, but we have to grow,” he said. “I challenge everyone to continue to grow. The things that happen this year can’t happen next year. Obviously, there will be new problems and things we have to correct. But let’s find a different problem. I know we only lost four games through the entire year, but in those four games there was a habit of not stopping the run, and it’s unacceptable.”
There has been a lot of chatter in the hours since the loss about the Jaguars controlling the line of scrimmage and bullying the Steelers defensive line. Heyward admitted the Jaguars offensive linemen won their share of the physical battles, but he said many of the problems stopping the run were due to players not properly executing their assignments.
“In our defense, it relies on a lot of trust and guys being in their gaps,” he said. “When guys aren’t sound we put our team at a disadvantage. It’s not because guys don’t care because this group cares a lot. We put our hearts and soul into this game. It’s tough. I can only speak for myself, but everyone hurt a lot because of this. We appreciate the fans. We hurt more than you guys. We know this city is deserving of a championship. We just didn’t get it done.”
In the second half, when the run defense improved, the Steelers made other mistakes such as not keeping Jaguars quarterback Blake Bortles in the pocket. Heyward indicated some of the problems the Steelers are experiencing on defense are due to their youth.
Tomlin started five players this season who were drafted in 2015 or later, including outside linebackers Bud Dupree and T.J. Watt, defensive backs Artie Burns and Sean Davis and defensive lineman Javon Hargrave.
“In the first half, we didn’t stop the run early enough,” Heyward said. “In the second half it was third and-6 and third-and-8. We knew they wanted to pass. But we didn’t get off the field whether it was a quarterback scramble or we gave up a bonehead assignment where we didn’t execute and let the guy release. You can’t have that against good teams. These are things we talk about the whole year. It’s something we all have to grow from. All I can do is try to get better, which I’ll try to do this offseason. I challenge everyone to do the same. Young guys are no longer young guys. They’re not rookies. Two-year guys are no longer two-year guys. They’re three-year guys. I just challenge everyone to come back better for this situation. I know it hurts. But no one wants to be in this situation.”
Heyward said the younger players have to learn how to play within the framework of the defense.
“Sometimes you have to execute where the plays allows you to,” he said. “Sometimes you think you’re going to win this way. Instead of being in your gap you think you can go make a play. And sometimes guys try to make too many plays. It sucks sometimes because I know these guys can make the plays. We have to execute as a defense. That happens in this game. It comes with younger guys. We have to learn from that. We have to be a complete unit that understands it’s one agenda. Everyone has to be accountable for their gaps. Everyone has to be accountable for run and pass. I look forward to righting that wrong. I know we can’t do it this instant. But we have a whole offseason to think about it.”
Heyward challenged the younger players to come back as better players when the team reconvenes this spring.
“Guys have to continue to get better,” Heyward said. “I know this was T.J.’s first year, but I think he’ll be better next year. I think Bud will be better. This is the first year Bud has been healthy for a full year. Bud played a full year for the first time. I challenge those two especially because they sky is the limit with them. They’re very athletic. They can drop in coverage. They can rush the passer.
“We have to get back to doing that. I know we set the [Steelers single-season sack] record this year, but it will be forgotten because we didn’t get the job done as a team. We’re going to set goals for next year and hopefully we surpass them.”
Ray Fittipaldo: rfittipaldo@post-gazette.com and Twitter @rayfitt1.
First Published: January 15, 2018, 9:29 p.m.
