Derrick’s Dudes & Duds: Heyward, Roberts Hold Fort; Coaches Crumble

The Pittsburgh Steelers are now on the wrong side of the history books, losing back-to-back games to two-win opponents this late in the season. The New England Patriots, previously losers of five straight, erupted at Acrisure Stadium by taking an early 21-3 lead and held on down the stretch. The past five day stretch has the feel of rock bottom as this is undoubtedly in the running for the low point of the Mike Tomlin era in Pittsburgh. As always, now it’s time to review the performances that helped lead to this unfortunate result.

Dude- Cam Heyward

The Walter Payton Man of the Year nominee had his best game of the season against the Patriots. Even at 34 years old, his play strength is still as insane as ever with him possessing a rare ability to lock out and shed blockers. New England came in with intentions on running the ball to stay on schedule, but Heyward’s presence helped hold their offense to a 17% rushing success rate. He also registered one the defenses two sacks tonight, this one being a higher quality rep than the one he was credited for last eeek. You can clearly see that he’s lost a tick of his explosiveness but he’s still a useful player, particularly versus the run.