Last night's debacle of a performance of the Pittsburgh Steelers against the Philadelphia Eagles saw the defense looking out-of-place and unable to stop either the Eagles' first team's or second team's offenses. Troy Polamalu's frustration was visible as he had to be calmed down on the sideline by defensive coordinator Dick LeBeau.
But Polamalu wasn't the only Steeler who was frustrated, defensive end Cam Heyward voiced many concerns for the team's defensive unit and its failures against the Eagles.
Heyward: "I'm just ticked. We all have to look in the mirror. When we put on this jersey we represent a lot" #Steelers
— Ken Laird (@Ken_Laird) August 22, 2014
Cam Heyward: "Everybody's pissed off. If you're not pissed off you shouldn't be on this team. Big level of disappointment" #Steelers
— Ken Laird (@Ken_Laird) August 22, 2014
Specifically, Heyward has been talking about how the Steelers' defense has needed to improve on their fundamentals earlier this week.
"They ran their feet on contact, but we have to bring them down," Heyward said Tuesday. "Too many times we should have had them for more tackles for losses in their backfield, but they drove their feet and finished off plays. We have to shore up on contain. When we do that, we're a much better team."
And after Thursday, Heyward's concerns over the defense were re-enforced, if not confirmed.
Heyward: "Missed tackles. Not following assignments, me included no pointing fingers. We've got to step up. More energy, sense of urgency"
— Ken Laird (@Ken_Laird) August 22, 2014
But Heyward knows the team can't just dwell on the its loss from Thursday, and must rally in practice to correct its mistakes that were capitalized on by the Eagles.
Cam Heyward: "Best believe when we get to practice stuff better be handled. Or we're in for a long season. It's about responding"
— Ken Laird (@Ken_Laird) August 22, 2014
In the aftermath of the preseason loss, much ado has been made about how out-of-sync the entire team looked, especially the defense. While their play is cause for concern, ultimately it is just a preseason game. However the sense of urgency is not lost upon the Steelers, and they know they have a lot of work to do before they open the season up at home against the Cleveland Browns.
Heyward: "When Cleveland comes to us they're going to bring the full shed. They'll see what we did wrong & will continue to run it"
— Ken Laird (@Ken_Laird) August 22, 2014