When many Pittsburgh Steelers fans were calling for Connor Heyward’s roster spot this summer, Aaron Rodgers stood firmly behind him, praising his football IQ and calling him a smart player. Heyward showed some of those football smarts today on an improvised touchdown throw from Rodgers.
“It was just a keeper to the right. Jaylen [Warren] had a great block,” Rodgers said Sunday after the Steelers’ 23-9 win over the Cleveland Browns via Pittsburgh’s YouTube. “First look is in the flat, second’s kind of to DK [Metcalf] on the backside. Connor’s really kind of a clear-out route. I just got out there. Connor’s a really smart player and I just was kind of like either you or DK, one of you guys see this and go that way. And Connor did, and I put a decent ball on him and [he made] a nice catch.”
Rodgers isn’t as mobile as he was a decade ago, but he can still extend plays. It’s up to the receivers to work themselves open in those situations, even if that means deviating from the called play and running routes like you would on the playground. That’s exactly what Heyward did.
Here’s a clip of the play from the NFL on X.
You can see Rodgers’ hand signal to flow back inside, and Heyward made one subtle step back to the middle. It was a fantastic throw by Rodgers and an equally great catch by Heyward in traffic.
Just because you run a decoy route doesn’t mean the ball isn’t coming your way. Players working to get open like this is exactly how busted plays can turn into touchdowns. With a quarterback like Rodgers, that is always a possibility.
The game was 9-3 at the time with the Steelers struggling to convert their drives into more than field goals. This was the touchdown that broke the game wide open for Pittsburgh.
So no, Connor Heyward isn’t just a special teams player who can provide no value on offense. He proved that he can make plays in limited opportunities. And moments like these, with Rodgers on the run outside the pocket, earns Heyward a lot of trust moving forward.
