PITTSBURGH (93.7 The Fan) – Cam Heyward is driven by a lot of things, one is not to keep a Mike Tomlin non-losing streak intact. His goals are more immediate in trying to stop a running game that ran for 215 yards on them in a loss a few weeks ago.
The reasons are many for their struggles against the Ravens, but, as per the old expression, he's not pointing a finger, rather a thumb.
"Just trying to get better," Heyward said Thursday. "I got my ass kicked in certain games. Wasn't happy with it, trying to make do with it."
Specially when it comes to the Ravens, he blames himself for the JK Dobbins 44-yard run that set up his four-yard touchdown in the first half. He also points to the end of the game when the Steelers still had time for another shot at it if they could get a three and out. Even though Baltimore was down to a practice squad quarterback, they converted the first down and ended the game.
"I didn't stay in my damn gap," Heyward said. "We didn't get off blocks as a group. It was 16-14 and we need to win three downs and we didn't win those three downs. They were able to run the clock out. That weighs on me more than anything because we didn't give our offense another chance to go down there and win it."
Ravens QB Lamar Jackson almost certainly won't play this week, so it will be facing off against Tyler Huntley again. The third-year quarterback was 8-12 for 88 yards passing and nine rushes for 31 yards in the December 11 game. For the season, the numbers aren't impressive, 61-91 for 528 yards with a touchdown and two interceptions. He's also run it 36 times for 113 yards, a touchdown and a game-winning two-pointer. What can best be said about Huntley this year, he's won three of the four he's played a big role in.
"Huntley is definitely part of the running game, especially in the red zone," Heyward said. "You can look at the Atlanta game where the QB had a lot of success. In the Denver game, to win the game they got a two-point conversion with Huntley. I'm not discounting him."
The quarterback is always a threat in the Ravens offense, but it's led by the running backs and since returning from injury, Dobbins ran it 15 times for 120 yards and the touchdown against the Steelers. Had 13 carries for 125 yards against the Browns and 12 rushes for 59 yards against Atlanta.
In those same three games, Gus Edwards has rushed for 66, 55 and 99 yards.
"That two-headed monster of Dobbins and Edwards do a great job of falling forward with that big offensive line," Heyward said. "We are looking forward to attacking them."
"We know we have to play better than the last time," said Steelers Defensive Coordinator Teryl Austin. "They beat us at the line of scrimmage. Schematically we will try to do some things as well, but the most important is we have to play better. They won that battle. We had a bad game."
"I got tons of motivation," Heyward said. "I can go through the list. There are so many things I need to do for this team."
He'll start with not getting his ass kicked, his words, and taking care of business against the Baltimore ground game.
