CAM HEYWARD
Defensive Tackle
To assign the outcome of Sunday's game vs. New England to one phase of the Steelers team, it would have to be the defense. And if forced to pick one player from that unit as the biggest contributor, one couldn't go wrong by settling on either one of their captains.
Cam Heyward and T.J. Watt were voted defensive captains by their teammates before the start of the regular season, and both of them came up big in critical situations on Sunday in what ended up being a 21-14 Steelers victory over the Patriots.
Heyward had 6 tackles and 1 sack, he tipped a pass at the line of scrimmage that was intercepted by Brandin Echols in the end zone, and he forced a fumble that was recovered by Payton Wilson in the end zone. That's 14 points Heyward saved the Steelers in a game they ended up winning by 7.
Watt had 5 tackles and 2 sacks, he forced 1 fumble and recovered another in a game where the Steelers defense had 5 takeaways and allowed the team to end the game at 1 plus-4 in turnover ratio.
In something of a photo finish, Heyward is the Steelers Digest Player of the Week.
Besides Watt, also considered were Brandin Echols, who had 5 tackles, that interception in the end zone, and also had a tackle for loss on fourth-and-1 from the Steelers 28-yard line with 1 minute to play to ice the outcome; and Aaron Rodgers, who completed 16-of-23 (69.6 percent) for 139 yards, with 2 touchdowns, 1 interception, and a rating of 96.1. In three games with Rodgers at quarterback, the Steelers offense is 7-of-8 in the red zone, including 3-for-3 against the Patriots.
