Steelers notebook: Ben Roethlisberger, Cameron Heyward post career superlatives

The two longest-tenured players on the team, Ben Roethlisberger and Cameron Heyward, represented the Pittsburgh Steelers during the pregame coin toss Sunday night.

Not long after that on that same Heinz Field turf, the duo was making its mark during the game against the Seattle Seahawks. Each had a first-half play that was a notable career milestone.

Roethlisberger’s 7-yard first-quarter pass to Pat Freiermuth was nondescript except that it allowed him to surpass the 61,655 passing yards that Hall of Famer Brett Favre had accumulated over his 16 seasons with the Green Bay Packers. It made Roethlisberger third all-time in NFL history for most passing yards with one team.

Only Tom Brady (74,571 with the New England Patriots) and Drew Brees (68,010 with the New Orleans Saints) have more.

Roethlisberger’s second-quarter touchdown pass to Najee Harris was the 403rd of his career, eighth most in NFL history. Roethlisberger is sixth all-time in passing yards.

Heyward’s second-quarter sack of Geno Smith was the 60th of his career. That tied him with Joey Porter for fifth most for the Steelers. It also broke a tie with Keith Willis for the most by a defensive lineman for the Steelers since the sack became an official statistic in 1982. (The Steelers recognize sacks before that).

Heyward’s 60 sacks rank 17th among active players; only two active defensive tackles have more.

First-quarter blues

The Steelers scored touchdowns on their first offensive drives in each of the two games before Sunday, which snapped an 11-game streak of scoreless first quarters that ran 11 consecutive games.

Against the Seahawks, though, the Steelers offense was back to its poor early-game ways. It had the ball for three full possessions, and each ended in a punt. The three punts topped the number of first downs (two), which also happened to match the number of penalties on the offense in the first quarter.

Harris managed just 4 rushing yards on four first-quarter carries.

Fan on the field

The game was delayed for a short period of time early in the first quarter when a fan made his way onto the field, apparently coming from the north end zone. After Seattle’s first offensive snap of the game, the fan made his way past the line of scrimmage and the assembled Steelers defense.

He played up to the crowd before security began to approach. The fan slipped to the ground as he was about to make his break to escape and was quickly apprehended.

Banner inactive

Zach Banner’s season debut will have to wait at least another two weeks. Banner was activated off injured reserve Saturday but was not in uniform Sunday.

Banner suffered a torn ACL in last year’s season opener at the New York Giants. His rehab was delayed after he made a brief appearance during the Steelers’ third preseason game, and Banner began the regular season on IR.

Banner returned to practice Sept. 29 and by rule needed to be added to the active roster by Oct. 20 or be lost for the season. That Banner did not play against Seattle suggests the only reason he was activated Saturday was there was an available roster spot after receiver JuJu Smith-Schuster’s season-ending shoulder surgery Wednesday.

The Steelers have been mum on their plans for Banner. He could reclaim the starting right tackle job immediately or revert back to his former “eligible” extra tight end role he served in 2019. And if Banner does return to right tackle, would Chuks Okorafor shift back to the left side? That would bench rookie Dan Moore Jr.

Healthy scratches for the Steelers on Sunday were No. 3 quarterback Dwayne Haskins, cornerback Ahkello Witherspoon and rookie linebacker Buddy Johnson.

The Steelers on Friday announced that reserve defensive lineman Carlos Davis would miss his fifth consecutive game Sunday. Davis has a knee injury.

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