Halfway through the NFL season, fans are still working to evaluate the field. But Pittsburgh Steelers defensive end Cam Heyward has a message for those who have deemed the Steelers as “fraudulent.
The critique seems to be that head coach Mike Tomlin’s ability to lead his team to a 6-3 record is a fluke that won’t withstand the playoffs. That perspective could potentially be supported by Pittsburgh’s offense, which is ranked 28th in the league. Through the first nine games of the season, they had a minus-26 point differential.
On his “Not Just Football” podcast, Heyward fired back:
“Who are they judging?” Heyward said. “They’re not in this. Smoke and mirrors? Screw you. We worked too hard for this. These guys dedicate their lives. We try to be a good defense. Smoke and mirrors, I think that’s a cloud of smoke.”
His defense began with a response to Los Angeles Lakers star LeBron James, who compared his team to the Steelers after a 120-101 loss to the Orlando Magic earlier this month.
We’re like the Pittsburgh Steelers right now,” James said. “The Pittsburgh Steelers, right now, have not out-gained or out-scored any of their opponents in this season right now and yet they’ve got a winning record.”
The NBA star was attempting to cite Elias Sports Bureau, which said the Steelers’ 20-16 win over the Tennessee Titans marked just the 34th time in the NFL’s history that a team was out-gained in each of the first eight weeks — the first time that one of those teams has had a winning record.
“I love LeBron but man, stay away from football, my guy,” Heyward said. “6-3 is 6-3.”
Heyward, a six-time Pro Bowler, also refuted the idea that the Steelers are cranking out ugly wins.
“What is pretty? For me personally, ‘pretty’ is overrated,” he said. “People say ‘pretty’ is scoring a lot of points, right? Isn’t ‘pretty’ a defense dominating and making sure we can make the right plays at the right time? And your offense makes plays accordingly? I hate that…
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