When the Steelers line up to host the Jets on Sunday in a game that will also mark the franchise honoring the 50th anniversary of the franchise's first Super Bowl victory in 1974, Cameron Heyward will also match a franchise record for defensive players.
Sunday will mark the 201st career game for Heyward, tying Pro Football Hall of Fame safety Donnie Shell for the most games played with the Steelers by a defensive player.
"I think the one thing is obviously he has a great mindset. He's an unbelievable competitor," said Steelers defensive coordinator Teryl Austin of Heyward. "Hates to lose at anything. I think he keeps himself in great shape physically. He's not beat down. Last year he was a little bit injured, but when he is healthy, he really takes care of his body, and he is strong as all get out. I think between his mindset and him keeping his body in great shape and staying in great shape, that is really the key. I probably said it up here a couple of years ago, he is a unicorn. For a big guy to play as good as he is playing inside of his age is outstanding."
It's fitting that Heyward would tie Shell for that mark considering both players began their careers buried on the depth chart behind some other great players before finally making their mark.
Shell, an undrafted rookie in the Steelers' historic 1974 rookie class, spent the first three seasons of his career as a part-time player, making just three starts in his first three seasons.
It wasn't until 1977 that he broke into the starting lineup as a full-time player. Five Pro Bowls and four All-Pro selections later, Shell finally called it a career following the 1987 season at 35. In between were 48 of his 51 career interceptions, a multitude of big hits and plenty of veteran leadership provided.
The start to Heyward's career was a little different. He was a first-round draft pick in 2011. But, like Shell, he found himself stuck on the bench for a while behind some other good players.
Heyward finally became a regular starter in 2013, and six Pro Bowls and four All-Pro picks later, he's still going strong at age 35.
How strong?
After essentially playing on one leg last season because of a groin injury that limited him to 11 games, Heyward has returned in 2024 with a vengeance.
In the Steelers' first six games, he has 25 tackles, three sacks, four tackles for a loss and 10 quarterback hits.
Per Pro Football Focus' grading system, he's been the best defensive tackle in the NFL, scoring a full point better than Kansas City's Chris Jones, the next-closest interior defensive lineman.
The pass rush has been good – as usual. Heyward's three sacks this season give him 83.5 in his career, the second-most in team history behind T.J. Watt. But his run defense, according to PFF, has been the best among defensive tackles in the NFL.
"Cam's playing lights-out," said Austin. "Lights-out."
That's nothing new. Heyward has 672 career tackles, including 125 for a loss.
He's climbing his way into strong Hall of Fame consideration himself.
Realize that his 83.5 sacks are the eighth-most for a defensive tackle since sacks became an official statistic in 1982. And he's shown he's still quite capable of climbing that list.
His 672 tackles are tied for 11th-most all-time among defensive tackles, while his 125 tackles for a loss are third-most for a defensive tackle on Pro Football Reference's Hall of Fame monitor, which measures players from all eras to judge their Hall of Fame worthiness.
On that Hall of Fame monitor, Heyward has already surpassed two recent inductees, Steve McMichael and Joe Klecko, though both were senior committee entrants.
He's just behind Bryant Young, who went into the Hall of Fame in 2022.
As much as Watt is an all-time great Steelers player, so is Heyward.
That he is playing as well as he is at 35 might surprise some. But not head coach Mike Tomlin.
"I'm not surprised, but it doesn't mean that I don't appreciate it, and it's not only his talents, and it's not only T.J.'s talents, their talents are what they are," Tomlin said. "It's so secondary if you spend day to day life with those guys. Their commitment, their will, their leadership, the things that they do for themselves, the things that they do for others, the way they communicate, their general approach to business is as unique as their talents, and that's why I don't think any of us are surprised when we see the superhuman things that they do quite routinely."
• If Tomlin decides to go with Russell Wilson at quarterback, one reason could be a fundamental one to the Steelers offense.
Justin Fields has done a lot of good things in the team's first six games. But one of the big pieces of offensive coordinator Arthur Smith's offense has been utilizing play-action.
And the Steelers have tried to do that. According to NFL NextGen Stats, Fields has utilized play-action on 32.3 percent of his drop backs this season.
That being said, it hasn't been especially productive. Fields has completed 31 of his 47 play-action pass attempts for 255 yards. But his 5.4 yards per pass attempts on play-action passes is fourth-lowest in the NFL.
Last season with the Broncos, Wilson averaged 8.6 yards per pass attempt when utilizing play-action and has averaged 8.4 yards per attempt using play-action in his career.
Fields in his career has averaged 7.8 yards per pass attempt utilizing play-action, so it's not like he can't do it. He just hasn't excelled at it thus far this season.
Perhaps Wilson will.
And that could take the Steelers' offense to another level, which is something for which Tomlin is searching.
That doesn't mean Fields' efforts haven't been appreciated. And he still might be this team's quarterback of the future.
But Wilson could open some doors with the passing game that have been locked thus far. And given that Baltimore has been the best team in the NFL this season stopping the run, but much less so against the pass, being able to throw the ball down the stretch is going to be a necessity. The Ravens are 31st in the NFL in pass defense.
"Justin has been really good, and we've been really good at times, but not to be confused with great," Tomlin said. "This is a competitive league. We're trying to position ourselves to be that team, and we've got a player with talent who hasn't had an opportunity to play, so we're going to potentially explore those things. Sometimes it doesn't necessarily have anything to do with what Justin has done or has not done. Justin has been an asset to us."
• The Steelers' blitz rate is just 15.6 percent, the fourth-lowest in the league. On third downs, they're blitzing even less, an NFL-low 9.3 percent of the time, the lowest in the NFL.
The Steelers have utilized a four-man pass rush 77.7 percent of the time this season, the second-lowest in the NFL. Despite that, they have created a 32.9 percent pressure rate with a four-man rush, the 10th-highest in the NFL.
And that has happened without Alex Highsmith available the past three games. He's expected to return this week.
It might not seem a good idea to rush four and play coverage against Aaron Rodgers and the Jets this week, but the reality is that he's not been great at picking that apart.
Rodgers has been pressured on just 20.9 percent of his drop backs against a four-man rush this season, the lowest in the NFL. But he's generated a completion percentage of just 63.2 against a four-man rush, which is the fourth-lowest in the league.
The key when working against a veteran quarterback such as Rodgers is to mix coverages.
"When you've got a quarterback who's had the resume that he has, and has had the type of success that he's had, it's a challenge, regardless of who the eligibles are," Tomlin said. "You'd better carry enough defense. You'd better have enough types of defense. You'd better pressure them. You'd better play man. You'd better play zone. You'd better (disguise). You'd better tie it all together with good pre-snap looks. You'd better make them read things out post snap. That's what you do when you play a guy of his caliber."
That also means the Steelers' communication had better be locked down in this game. If the Steelers are changing defenses from play-to-play, everyone has to be on the same page.
Rodgers will exploit any blown coverages.
• Dale Lolley is co-host of "SNR Drive" on Steelers Nation Radio. Subscribe to the podcast here: Apple Podcast | iHeart Podcast
• The injury to Steelers punter Cameron Johnston in Week 1 was a bad one.
But the Steelers were fortunate Corliss Waitman was available. After punting in Denver last season, where he averaged 46.6 yards per kick, Waitman signed a futures contract with the Bears.
But Chicago then selected punter Tory Taylor in the fourth round of the draft and decided to go with him at the end of August, releasing Waitman.
Less than two weeks later, he was with the Steelers – again – after winning a tryout to replace Johnston, who suffered a season-ending knee injury in the team's regular season-opening win over the Falcons.
"I was fortunate because I had been in camp, so I was in shape," said Waitman. "But even during that week off, I was working out. That's the life of a specialist in the NFL."
Waitman has been good for the Steelers in his third stint with the team. He's averaging 47.4 yards per punt with a net average of 42.4.
Taylor, meanwhile, is averaging 48.4 yards per punt, but 42.1 yards in net average.
If Waitman can maintain his 47.4 yards per punt average, he would set a Steelers' single-season record. That is currently held by Bobby Jo Green, who averaged 47.0 yards on 73 punts in 1961.
Weather could affect things for Waitman as things get colder.
"I've kicked in weather all my life," said Waitman, who is originally from the Netherlands before moving to the United States at 15. "And I kicked in Denver last season."
To his point, Waitman has averaged 47.0 yards per kick in his career in 24 games with the Steelers and Broncos. The team record could be in jeopardy.
• At 35, Heyward isn't even in the top-10 in terms of oldest players in the NFL this season.
The Jets' Rodgers, who turns 41 Dec. 2, holds the honor as the oldest player, but right behind him is Bears tight end Mercedes Lewis, who turns 41 next May.
Placekickers Nick Folk and Matt Prater, along with quarterback Joe Flacco, are all 39.
Long-snappers J.J. Jansen of the Panthers, Jon Weeks of the Texans and Morgan Cox of the Titans, punter Thomas Morstead and quarterback Josh Johnson are all 38, as is defensive lineman Calais Campbell, who is the 11th-oldest player in the league.
Then there is 42-year-old offensive tackle Jason Peters. He was signed to Seattle's practice squad a couple of weeks ago.
Most of those players are specialists or backup quarterbacks. Rodgers has played 96.7 percent of the Jets' snaps this season.
Heyward has played 68.75 percent of the Steelers' defensive snaps this season – along with logging an additional 35 snaps on special teams.
