Cameron Heyward Calls out Steelers Teammates After Disheartening Loss to Packers
The Pittsburgh Steelers took another one on the chin in Week 8. After a strong first half, things fell apart for the team, especially Cameron Heyward and the Steelers defense, in the second half against the Green Bay Packers.
At one point, the Packers scored 25 of 28 points, which allowed them to cruise to a 35-25 victory.
Obviously, Heyward, one of Pittsburgh’s defensive captains, was not pleased with the team’s performance. He let that be known in so many words while speaking to reporters after the game.
“You gotta handle adversity a lot better. This game eroded in the second half and big plays were the death of us today,” Heyward told the media, via TribLive.com’s Joe Rutter. “You’re not going to be perfect out there, but you’ve got to keep fighting.
“I just think there is a lot of ball and not enough fight on our side.”
Heyward continued to say even more.
“We can’t let penalties or stuff that goes against you affect your heart in the game,” he added. “When you’ve got a love affair with this game, there has got to always be a buy-in.”
The Packers started Sunday night’s affair 1-for-6 on third downs. However, on their first third-down attempt of the second half, Green Bay quarterback Jordan Love completed a 59-yard pass to tight end Tucker Kraft.
That was the start of the Packers converting four of their final six third-down tries in the game. Green Bay also finished with 454 yards and a 9.7 yards per pass average.
Meanwhile, the Steelers helped the Packers’ cause, committing two personal foul penalties in the second half. The Steelers had six fouls for 65 yards in the loss.
Cameron Heyward, Steelers Pass Rush Goes Missing
The Steelers effectively placed Love under some pressure throughout Sunday night. So it wasn’t as if the team had no pass rush at all.
However, the Steelers were unable to create any splash plays with their pass rush. They failed to record a sack against Love, and when under pressure, Love often still connected with a receiver for a big play.
Week 8 was the first time this season Heyward and the Steelers were unable to register a sack. Still, over the past two games, the Steelers have just two sacks. They also don’t have a takeaway in the last 13 quarters.
It’s difficult to create turnovers when the opposing quarterback isn’t under consistent pressure.
Steelers Secondary Torched Again
Heyward’s comments appeared to be more general rather than directed at a certain teammate or even position group. But the team’s secondary deserves a lot of criticism for the second straight week.
The Pittsburgh secondary allowed a season-high 360 passing yards against the Packers. It was the third time in the past four games the Steelers yielded 300 yards through the air.
During that stretch, the Steelers have allowed eight passing touchdowns and registered two interceptions.
On Sunday night, the team’s secondary couldn’t keep up with Kraft, who posted the most yards after catch for a tight end since 2018.
Kraft was the first tight end with more than 140 receiving yards and two touchdowns against the Steelers since Jackie Smith in 1963.
Whether due to the lack of “fight,” failing to deal with adversity or something else, it was an embarrassing performance for the Steelers defense. Heyward and his teammates will be danger of dropping to the .500 mark next week if they don’t improve quickly on that side of the ball.
Lions defensive coordinaor Kelvin Sheppard expected to be a front-runner for LSU head coaching job after Brian Kelly firing
After the Detroit Lions' win over the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in Week 7, everyone is talking about the job done by Lions defensive coordinator Kelvin Sheppard. To go into a prime-time game against one of the best teams in the league with a skeleton crew and hold that offense to just nine points, that's bound to impress just about every decision maker out there.
The early thoughts have been that Sheppard is likely to get head coaching interviews in the NFL this winter, but now that LSU has fired head coach Brian Kelly, Sheppard's alma mater could come calling, and after what they paid Kelly, it might be hard to say no.
There's already talk about Sheppard as one of the front-runners for the job
If LSU is for-real about the next head coach and turning it around the first guy you have to absolutely give a call to is K Shep. Even if he wants to stay in the NFL you have to throw that lure out there. If not here’s who.
Brent Key
Glenn Schumann
Matt Patricia
Vance Joseph
— Breiden Fehoko (@BreidenFehoko) October 26, 2025
While there is nothing official yet and there won't be until this season is over, it's notable that LSU alums and fans hit social media hard last night asking for Sheppard to come home. This shouldn't be looked at as your classic instance where fans are clamoring over a coach they have no chance at.
You can take it to the bank that LSU will reach out to Sheppard at some point. Now, that doesn't mean he'll take the job, and it doesn't even mean he'll take an interview. He may look to stay in Detroit, or he may have his sights set on a head coaching role in the NFL. But again, they're very likely going to call him.
Sheppard played for LSU from 2007 to 2010 and helped them win a national championship in 2007. After he retired from playing, Sheppard went back ot LSU to be thier director of player development. So he's already sort of been on the LSU coaching staff before. The Lions hired him to be their linebacker coach a year later. We'll see what happens soon enough.
