Pittsburgh Steelers Starting Cam Heyward Just Another Way Of ‘Saving Face’
October 7, 2012; Pittsburgh, PA, USA; Philadelphia Eagles center Dallas Reynolds (66) blocks against Pittsburgh Steelers defensive end Cameron Heyward (97) during the fourth quarter at Heinz Field. The Pittsburgh Steelers won 16-14. Mandatory Credit: Charles LeClaire-USA TODAY Sports
The turnstile-like blocking of the Steelers offensive line has breached it’s ways into the defense in the form of the depth chart becoming a turnstile over the last couple of weeks – and certainly days. The coaching staff and front office have been making moves – desperate ones – within the depth charts and roster in hopes of igniting a spark and get this team to win a game. Check that, these moves are being made to save face.
The Steelers and their hopes of getting to the playoffs in 2013 have sailed down the Ohio River, probably before the regular season even started. At 0-4, the Steelers sit near the bottom of the league, and the prospect of improving is slim to none. Many of the fans see it, and I believe the coaches and front office see it too. Otherwise, bolder moves would have been made to get this team to a state where it could actually be on the right side of the final score for a change. The moves of acquiring tackle Levi Brown and Will Allen, signing Stevenson Sylvester back, demoting Cortez Allen and promoting Gay, taking away games in the locker room are all just shuffles and moves to ‘save face’ that the coaching staff and front office are doing ‘something’ to improve this team.
The demotion of Hood and the ‘promotion’ of Heyward is just one more example of the true definition of Tomlin’s ‘Raising Hell’ – make this team such a mess that Steeler Nation feels like they are living in their own personal hell of experiencing crappy football from an organization with such a strong tradition of winning and no end in sight. Heyward may have ‘earned’ his way into the role of starter in combination of his improvement, but he’s still just as average as Hood. It’s reps for a guy that should had been starting a season ago. This team doesn’t need reps for busts. This team needs players who can help this team win. At the end of the day and at the end of another 10 point loss on the horizon moves like this are just desperate PR moves, so that when the team lands at the bottom of the league at 3-13, those at the top can stand at the mic and say, ‘Well obviously we did everything we could with trying to find the right combination of players to get the job done. And obviously we couldn’t find it, and obviously we’ll have to get the right combination next season.’
Obviously.