It’s been nearly a decade since the Pittsburgh Steelers won a playoff game, which has led to plenty of criticism of the proud franchise.
They have a chance to get back on track in the postseason thanks to a home matchup with the No. 5 Houston Texans on Monday Night Football at Acrisure Stadium.
The Texans have never won a road playoff game in their brief history, and the Steelers haven’t lost a home Monday Night Football game since 1991, so Pittsburgh has some history on its side in this one.
For team captain and star defensive lineman Cameron Heyward, who was recently named a second-team All-Pro, it comes down to one thing for the Steelers Monday night: being the aggressor.
On the latest episode of his “Not Just Football” podcast with appearances from tight ends Pat Freiermuth and Connor Heyward, Cam Heyward detailed what has to be different for the Steelers in this playoff game compared to previous ones.
“We gotta punch first. I think in these last playoff games I’ve been really just looking at, we kind of waited a little bit to see what happens,” Heyward said, according to video via the show’s YouTube page. “Now we gotta go out and attack and kind of set the tempo from the get-go, and then once you punch first you gotta keep punching. It can’t be this thing where, alright, we get seven points now we’re like, ‘Alright, let’s see what they’re gonna do.’ No, it’s gotta be full attack the entire time.
“It’s gotta be an onslaught of just us making plays, us going out there and executing, us playing with high tempo, high energy defense, special teams, offense.”
In previous playoff matchups, the Steelers did come out a bit timid and found themselves trailing rather quickly.
Dating back to the 2020 Wild Card matchup with the Cleveland Browns, Pittsburgh trailed 28-0 after one quarter of play. Against Kansas City, the Steelers struck first with a T.J. Watt scoop and score, but they ultimately trailed 21-7 at the half and 28-7 early in the third quarter in a rout.
The Buffalo Bills were up 14-0 after the first quarter in that AFC Wild Card matchup in 2023, and the Ravens had a 21-0 lead at halftime of last year’s playoff game. So, the games were largely over rather quickly for the Steelers.
They were timid and came out reserved. That can’t be the case this time around, especially against the Texans. Though Houston’s offense isn’t as explosive as some of the ones the Steelers have faced in recent postseasons, the Texans take care of the ball and know they can play the long game, leaning on their defense to keep things low-scoring and doing just enough to win games late.
The Steelers have a similar identity, so something has to give.
For Heyward, it’s about urgency in all three phases. Yes, it’s a bigger stage and it’s win or go home. That can cause some players to get a bit tight in the moment. That can’t be the case on Monday night though.
The Steelers have to be the aggressors and have that aggressive posture that head coach Mike Tomlin has talked about them having in recent weeks as they’ve won four of their last five games. They’ve essentially been in the playoffs since the start of December, so that mentality must carry over.
If not, another slow start could doom Pittsburgh once again in the postseason.
