Innholdsfortegnelse for Vol. 38 - Number 4 i Steelers Digest

Aaron Rodgers said, “I know what you’re trying to ask, and I’m not going to go down that road at all. I believe in the coaching staff. I believe in Mike Tomlin. That’s why I came here. Players need to take accountability, myself included, and I will. I will continue to. I’ve got to play better. But there are 11 starters on offense, 11 on defense plus with the personnel groupings that we run. We’ve got Monday to Saturday, and we can be really proud of our best Monday to Saturday and go out and play our best game (next week) and take control of the division.” T.J. Watt said, “Playmaking is what sets things off. When you’re not making plays, it sucks. We need to find ways to be…

From the notebook of a sportswriter who’s covering a first-place team that has a huge showdown game coming up: • Doesn’t really feel that way, does it? • But such is life in the NFL in 2025. • As I began to look back through the years to find the last time the Steelers gained fewer than the 166 they gained against the Bills, in a home game, I naturally assumed I would find it in a year such as 2013, 2006, 2003, 2000, or the late 1990s. Wouldn’t you know it was the 1994 opener? Those were the beginnings of a Super Bowl team. • After the ugly loss to the Bills – the Steelers’ fifth loss in seven games – cries for an immediate rebuild were being made…

Cam Heyward was born to play for the Steelers. At least that’s what his mother wanted. She was a Pittsburgh girl who married the late, great Craig “Ironhead” Heyward of Pitt fame. She raised Cam in Atlanta, but always wanted to go back to Pittsburgh. Cam made that possible when the Steelers drafted him out of Ohio State in the first round of the 2011 NFL Draft. The Son of Ironhead was greeted with much acclaim by the media and fans of the defending AFC champions, but the coaching staff sent Heyward to the back of the line behind Aaron Smith, Casey Hampton, Brett Keisel, and even 2009 first-round pick Ziggy Hood. Heyward didn’t start a game in his first two seasons, and in his first six seasons accumulated only…

It wasn’t a good day for the Steelers in any phase of play during Sunday’s game vs. Buffalo at Acrisure Stadium, but there were some individual flashes early. Brandin Echols turned in a couple of big plays early in the first quarter of a game that ended in a 0-0 tie. The first of those came on the game’s opening possession, on the second third-down situation. On a third-and-9 from the Pittsburgh 42-yard line, Josh Allen tried to get the ball to WR Gabe Davis, but Echols made a diving interception at the 35-yard line. Then on Buffalo’s third series, a third-and-4 from the Bills’ 19-yard line, Echols broke up a pass intended for WR Khalil Shakir to force a punt. Echols is the Steelers Digest Player of the Week.…

Cole Holcomb is about as tough of a human being as you will ever meet. And that isn’t a bad thing. He is strong. He is resilient. He is rough and gruff. But he is something else as well. He is human. And he couldn’t suppress or hide that human side, couldn’t hide his emotions, the last two years when he was dealing with one of the biggest challenges of his NFL career. “There were times when there were tears, for sure,” admitted Holcomb, talking quietly as he stood outside of the Steelers athletic training room, where he spent countless hours the last few years. That time spent there has paid off, though, as Holcomb was honored at the Art Rooney Courage House Luncheon at Acrisure Stadium as the Steelers…

This was definitely not the plan. Not when training camp opened. Not when the regular season began. But 11 weeks into their 2025 regular season, in their 10th game and second in the annual home- and home with the Cincinnati Bengals, the Steelers found themselves forced off script. Starting quarterback Aaron Rodgers, who was signed to be, and had been, the hub of their offense all along, was injured at the end of the first half; and Mason Rudolph, who hadn’t taken a snap all season and hadn’t take a snap for the Steelers since Week 17 in 2023, was running the show. Starting running back Jaylen Warren, whose recent play was worthy of more touches than he had been getting, was on the sideline with an ankle injury after…

For a minute, it sounded like Cameron Heyward was joking when he said T.J. Watt has such a good feeling for his opponent’s movements and tendencies that he probably knows what they had for breakfast that morning. Crazy part is, he isn’t that far off. Maybe Watt isn’t aware if they had pancakes or eggs this morning, but he knows enough after endless film study of their tendencies and every move they make on the field. “He’s just got a bird’s eye view,” said Heyward. “He’s covering it all from stances to formations to what they’re eating for breakfast. You just never know. “He just approaches the game where every detail counts.” Watt laughed at the perception. Then, he caved a bit, knowing Heyward wasn’t that far off. “I think…

They ran the ball and stopped the run, at least to the degree that was better than the day’s opponent. They ran more offensive plays, had more first downs, more total net yards, were better on third downs, perfect in the red zone, and held a 6-minute edge in time of possession. The Steelers did a lot of things right in areas in which they hadn’t been doing them so right lately, but they still lost. To pinpoint the reasons why the Steelers were on the short end of a 31-28 outcome vs. the Bears in Soldier Field is to focus on two of the areas that usually negate most statistical advantages. Turnovers and penalties. And the thing with turnovers and penalties is that they don’t even have to be…

An NFL game is 4 quarters of 15 minutes apiece. Sunday’s contained 119 offensive plays and lasted 3 hours and 5 minutes. It’s typically foolish to believe any NFL game is won or lost in the first quarter, but this time it provided an ominous preview of how the rest of Steelers-Chargers would unfold. The opening kickoff by Cameron Dicker sailed out of bounds, so the Steelers started at their 40-yard line. Excellent field position. That bit of good fortune didn’t last a single snap, because left guard Andrus Peat — starting in place of the injured Isaac Seumalo — was flagged for a false start. The Steelers offense went 3-and-out — the first of five times one of their possessions ended after 3 plays. Corliss Waitman punted to the…