The Pittsburgh Steelers keep stacking wins, and their most recent victory came against the Green Bay Packers in Week 12 on Sunday Night Football. A large reason for the team’s victory, and defensive success, was the play of team captain Cameron Heyward.
For his big day on the gridiron, Heyward was named AFC Defensive Player of the Week for Week 12.
DE Cameron Heyward (@CamHeyward) earns his second AFC Defensive Player of the Week honors of his NFL career and of 2017 (Weeks 4&12)
— Dom Rinelli (@drinelli) November 29, 2017
He is the first #Steelers defensive player to earn multiple AFC Defensive POW honors in the same season since 2010: S Troy Polamalu (@tpolamalu) pic.twitter.com/t80QQ8pNRZ
This is Heyward’s second Defensive Player of the Week award this year, he was also given the honor after the team’s Week 4 win over the Ravens in Baltimore. As stated by Dom Rinelli of the Steelers Public Relations team, Heyward is the first Steelers defender to win multiple Defensive Player of the Week awards since safety Troy Polamalu did it in 2010.
Plain and simple, Heyward didn’t just have a good game, but is having a tremendous season. After missing a large part of the 2016 season with a torn pectoral muscle, Heyward has rebounded in a big way to help the Steelers to a 9-2 record. The hope now is with the team’s success, and Heyward’s individual success, Heyward might receive some post-season recognition in the way of a Pro Bowl invitation.
Then again, the ultimate hope is the Steelers will be busy when the Pro Bowl is being played, as they prepare for Super Bowl 52.