Defense sets sacks mark
Browns QB Kizer brought down six times in finale
Defensive end Cameron Heyward did all the heavy lifting in the first 15 games of the season to get the Steelers defense in position to break the franchise record for sacks in a season. He led the team with 12 sacks and desperately wanted to be on the field for the regular-season finale against the Browns.
So when Heyward walked into the locker room Sunday morning to find his name on the inactive list there was some profound disappointment He knew what head coach Mike Tomlin was doing. He wanted his best players completely healthy for the first playoff game, and Heyward, who missed the 2016 postseason, might be the defense’s most indispensable player.
Still, that didn’t make it any easier for Heyward.
“I was kind of bummed I didn’t get to go the whole season,” Heyward said. “I like playing, but I like the way a lot of guys stepped up.”
As it turned out, the Steelers didn’t need their top sacker to play in this game to set the record. Five defenders, including Tyson Alualu, who replaced Heyward in the starting lineup, recorded six sacks to give the Steelers 56 for the season, one more than the 1994 and 2001 defenses.
“New Blitzburgh, baby,” inside linebacker Vince Williams crowed after the game. “There have been a lot of great guys who got sacks on quarterbacks in this stadium. I’m just happy we could add to it.”
Williams got another sack, his eighth in a career year rushing the passer. After Heyward’s 12 sacks the Steelers didn’t have anyone else with more than eight. When L.J. Fort took down Browns quarterback DeShone Kizer in the fourth quarter he became the 13th Steelers defender to record a sack this season.
“This is a collective effort,” Heyward said. “Everyone contributed to this. We like it that way. You can’t just double one person. Hopefully we can take it into the playoffs and set some new records.” Who would have predicted this before the season began? Franchise sacks leader James Harrison would only have one sack but the Steelers would get four from cornerback Mike Hilton, who had to have a strong training camp to even get on the 53-man roster. Fort was cut and signed to the practice squad in September before being recalled to the 53-man roster. Linebacker Sean Spence was out of the NFL for six weeks before the Steelers called and got him off his couch after Ryan Shazier was injured. He had a sack last week to get into the act. Even cornerback Joe Haden registered one after going five full seasons without one. “We have a lot of guys who can get after the quarterback,” Williams said. “We have a good four-man rush. You never really know who’s coming.” The Steelers finished the season with 18 more sacks than they had last season. “I just think a lot of guys are growing and maturing as players and within the scheme we are employing,” Tomlin said. “I think that comfort and familiarity probably produced the improvements.”
Heyward was born in Pittsburgh and knows his Steelers history. That’s why the sack record means so much to him and his teammates. Kevin Greene and Greg Lloyd were on the 1994 defense that originally set the record. His former teammates Aaron Smith and Casey Hampton were on the 2001 defense that matched it.
“A lot of great defenses have been here and never done that,” Heyward said. “It’s a great honor.”
Rookie first-round pick T.J. Watt, the right outside linebacker who made Harrison expendable, picked up his seventh sack of the season against the Browns. He has only been in the city eight months, but the significance of setting the record was not lost on him, either.
“It means a lot,” Watt said.
“This is a very historic place. There have been a lot of great players. To be a part of it is something so special.”