Steelers' veterans Cameron Heyward, T.J. Watt chasing elusive postseason success

The last time the Pittsburgh Steelers appeared in a Super Bowl, Cameron Heyward was in his final semester at Ohio State.

The last time the Steelers appeared in an AFC championship game, T.J. Watt was two weeks removed from foregoing his final season of eligibility at Wisconsin and declaring for the NFL Draft.

For all their collective individual accomplishments in the ensuing seasons — 12 Pro Bowl nods, seven All-Pro selections, one defensive player of the year award — Heyward and Watt haven’t achieved the sustained postseason success they anticipated when they joined the Steelers.

Heyward came aboard as a raw defensive tackle prospect in 2011, the year after the Steelers appeared in Super Bowl XLV in Dallas, the second time in three seasons they reached the NFL’s biggest stage. Watt, a pass-rushing outside linebacker, arrived in 2017, the year after the Steelers defeated Miami and Kansas City in the playoffs before falling at New England in the conference title game.

The Steelers, of course, haven’t reached those heights since. They haven’t even won a playoff game, that defeat against the Patriots igniting a run that extended to 0-5 with a wild-card loss at Buffalo in January.

The drought is the ninth-longest in the NFL, and the longest in franchise history since the 1970 NFL-AFL merger.

With Heyward turning 35 in May and Watt approaching 30, the sense of urgency is heightened for the team’s two defensive stars to taste the type of postseason spoils that has eluded them.

“The time is now,” said Alex Highsmith, Watt’s running mate at outside linebacker. “We’ve emphasized that all year, especially for guys like Cam and T.J. who have put so much heart and sweat and blood into what they do and in their careers.

“It hits a little different when you have guys like that who you want to get wins for. Not only to get those wins, but to get to a Super Bowl and win it.”

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The Steelers, though, aren’t dealing from a position of strength as the season opener Sunday in Atlanta approaches. They have finished in third place in the uber-competitive AFC North the past two seasons and have won the division title just once in the past six seasons.

Baltimore and Cincinnati are viewed by NFL experts as the cream of the division’s crop, with the Steelers jostling with the Cleveland Browns to avoid last place, a spot the franchise hasn’t visited since the NFL went to its eight-division format in 2002.

“It’s a challenge I’m looking forward to attacking,” Heyward said. “You can’t be shy about what’s been done in the past, but I look forward to the future and want to attack that. We have a good team. We can talk about the playoffs, but before you can get to the playoffs, you have to dominate during the regular season. We’re not overlooking that.”

The Steelers will try to build on last season’s 10-7 record, which was a one-game improvement over the previous season. They believe they have upgraded the defense with the additions of inside linebacker Patrick Queen, cornerback Donte Jackson and safety DeShon Elliott. The latter two players were added to bolster a secondary that includes three-time All-Pro free safety Minkah Fitzpatrick.

The biggest addition, though, was on offense when the Steelers signed 35-year-old quarterback Russell Wilson in free agency. Wilson appeared in two Super Bowls, winning one, in his 10 seasons with the Seattle Seahawks.

“He’s reached the heights that me and T.J. haven’t seen,” Heyward said. “From that standpoint, he’s got what we’re looking for.”

Wilson, on the other hand, arrives with his own postseason baggage. He has won just one postseason game since 2016 and didn’t reach the playoffs in either of his two seasons in Denver.

“To help T.J. and Cam, the whole team actually — with the history of this organization and how long they’ve been here — to help those guys get to the playoffs and win playoff games and do what we all want to do, hoist the Lombardi Trophy, is the goal,” Wilson said.

“There are a lot of other teams with that goal. We have to do what we can to separate ourselves and make sure it is us.”

The Steelers have five players on their 53-man roster who own a Super Bowl ring: Wilson, wide receivers Van Jefferson and Scotty Miller, guard Isaac Seumalo and inside linebacker Elandon Roberts. Roberts has two from his days with the Patriots.

Roberts was surprised to learn that neither Watt nor Heyward has played in an AFC championship game. When the Steelers played the Patriots in 2016, Roberts’ rookie season, Heyward was on injured reserve with a pectoral injury.

“That just gives me more reason to help them feel that,” Roberts said. “I’d love to be a part of getting those guys to hold the Lombardi.”

The stinging playoff losses early in his career remain difficult for Heyward to digest, starting with the overtime loss to Denver and Tim Tebow in his rookie season. There was the home loss to Baltimore in 2014 when the Steelers were 11-5 and AFC North champs. The six-point loss at Denver came in the 2012 divisional round.

Those pale in comparison to some of the losses the players have endured since Watt joined the team in 2017. They were 13-3 in 2017 when they were stunned at home by Jacksonville, 45-42. They were 12-4 heading into the 2020 postseason only to fall behind by 28 points and lose at home 48-37 to Cleveland.

In recent seasons, the Steelers lost on the road to Kansas City and Buffalo when they were the final seed to reach the playoffs.

“The close misses, the ball going one way or the other,” Heyward said. “The playoff in Denver, a fumble changing the outcome of the game. Not getting a stop on defense there. Countless other games. Even when we played Kansas City, we started off fast, got turnovers but couldn’t get points on the board. We’re looking for complete games, especially in the playoffs. But first we have to capitalize on getting to the playoffs.”

Watt watched from the sideline because of a knee sprain in January when the Steelers lost at Buffalo, running their postseason record to 0-4 since his arrival. He could have played the following week had the Steelers pulled off the upset.

“We talk about wanting to win a Super Bowl each and every year,” Watt said. “It’s also something that the older you get, you don’t want to look ahead, and you don’t want to lose sight of the here and now.”

As much as Watt wants to achieve the playoff success that has overshadowed his six Pro Bowls, four All-Pro honors and 2021 defensive player of the year selection, he wants to do it for Heyward more.

“It would be huge for everybody obviously,” Watt said, “but for a guy like that who has played here for so long and has been through so many ups and downs, to be able to get him a ring would be incredible.”

A Super Bowl championship at this stage of Heyward’s career would be written from a storybook. The Super Bowl this season will be played in New Orleans, where Heyward’s late father, Craig, began his NFL career after being drafted out of Pitt.

Heyward doesn’t want this season — or the remaining two on his contract — to be about his quest. He shrugged off coach Mike Tomlin’s declaration after the Buffalo playoff defeat that he wants longtime Steelers such as Heyward and Watt to feel the confetti rain down on them after a Super Bowl win.

“I don’t pay attention to that because I feel like I’ve got to win it for him,” Heyward said about his coach. “I laugh when people say this guy deserves to win a Super Bowl. The only way you deserve it is if you earn it. That’s always been my motto. … They’re not just going to hand you the award. It’s not a participation trophy. You’ve got to go out and get it.”