At 36, Cameron Heyward rises up with 2 splash plays that fuel Steelers' win against Patriots

The newest addition to the Pittsburgh Steelers defense made his presence felt with a takeaway Sunday afternoon at Gillette Stadium. So did a forgotten piece of the defense, a player whose start against the New England Patriots was his first in 23 months.

Still, Jabrill Peppers and Cole Holcomb had to cede the spotlight to the oldest and longest-tenured member of the Steelers’ defense. For it was 36-year-old Cameron Heyward who, arguably, had the biggest impact on a 21-14 victory that was the Steelers’ first in Foxborough, Mass., since the 2008 season.

Heyward had a hand — literally — in two turnovers that occurred in the end zone, producing a 14-point swing for the Steelers.

First, he tipped a Drake Maye pass that resulted in a Brandin Echols interception with 7 seconds remaining in the first half and the Steelers trying to preserve a 14-7 lead.

Then, with New England threatening to tie the score in the third quarter after a long interception return, Heyward knocked the ball from running back Rhamondre Stevenson’s grasp short of the goal line. Payton Wilson recovered the fumble for a touchback that was another close shave for the Steelers in a venue named after a razor company.

“He’s a dawg,” said Holcomb, who used that canine description multiple times to describe Heyward. “You want to be the guy that is the reason we win. He embodied that today.”

Heyward also had his first sack of the season. Originally, he was credited with 1¹⁄₂ sacks, splitting one with rookie Derrick Harmon, who was making his Steelers debut. The ruling was changed later in the game, and Harmon was given a full sack, with Heyward settling for one as well.

Heyward has taken the rookie from Oregon under his tutelage, making an impact on the practice field and in the meeting room.

“He comes in to work every day, really gets to it,” Harmon said. “He’s on the little details. He’s on my behind about the little details day-in and day-out. That’s why we love Cam. He stays on other players, and he stays on himself.”

Added inside linebacker Patrick Queen: “That’s why he is the guy that he is, why we trust him to be leader of this defense, leader of this team.”

Heyward had made little impact on the defense through the first two weeks, and he was feeling the sting of criticism surrounding a unit that ranked No. 29 in total defense and continued to struggle to stop the run. The Steelers allowed another 119 yards on the ground, but nobody was talking about that glitch after a five-takeaway performance by the defense.

“We have the utmost faith in those guys, not just Cam,” cornerback Jalen Ramsey said. “When you have guys like that, you feel like everybody can play with a lot of confidence. That’s how it should be. I’m glad you were able to see that expressed today.”

All the work the Steelers do in short-yardage situations in practice paid off against the Patriots. The Steelers open every practice with a seven-play 2-point conversion simulation. Coach Mike Tomlin has employed this strategy for years, so it was fitting that Heyward was the player to take advantage. He’s had the most practice at defending a short field.

Both takeaways involving Heyward, coincidentally, happened with the Patriots at the Steelers’ 2.

“That’s why we spend as much time practicing down in that space as we do as a collective,” Tomlin said. “We’ve got to be great on defense in an effort to win the points swing. We’ve got to be great on offense. When you take the ball away, you get all seven points. Usually, you’re fighting for four, but those takeaways, particularly down there, were big.”

Heyward had a career-high 11 pass deflections last season, when he was named to the All-Pro first team for the fourth time. His tip late in the first half was his third in as many games.

“You can’t always rush,” Heyward said. “You have to get your hands up, and the result was an interception.”

On his forced fumble at the goal line in the second quarter, Heyward knew Stevenson was prone to dropping the ball. He had fumbled seven times last season and 14 in a four-year career. In the first quarter, Holcomb forced a Stevenson fumble that Darius Slay recovered, setting up the first Steelers touchdown.

“It’s an agenda,” Tomlin said. “The efforts of the guys make it real, not only on Sunday but during the course of the week. It just felt like we were headed toward a good game in that area, just the way we worked this week.”