One of the biggest matchups going into the Steelers' 26-24 win over the Colts was Cam Heyward against Quenton Nelson. Heyward is still the captain of the Steelers' defense for good reason and had to step up even more in Stephon Tuitt's absence.
But facing Nelson, a second year guard who was first team All-Pro as a rookie, was a daunting task. He's been a key factor, maybe the key factor, in the Colts' balanced attack with a one-cut back like Marlon Mack.
And Heyward got the best of him. Let's take a closer look at how:
The Steelers had to keep Mack in check from breaking off a huge day. Doing so would force Jacoby Brissett, and eventually Brian Hoyer to be much sharper in the passing game than typically asked of them.
Mack did rush for 89 yards on 21 carries, but plenty of his attempts up the middle were snuffed out by Heyward, who was matched up with Nelson almost every play he was on the field. Watch this play in the first quarter where the Colts run a stretch away from Heyward. He just has to maintain his gap and take away the cutback for Mack, and does that.
As he and Nelson began jousting early, you can see Heyward bounce from Nelson's inside shoulder, then around to his outside shoulder, then shove the All-Pro guard out of the way:
He didn't make the tackle, but Heyward did establish his presence early. As the game continued you could see him start to win the battle over Nelson. Heyward finished with six tackles, most of which came right in his gap at the line.
Watch how he pushes and pulls Nelson to clear his gap and maintain it until Mack is bottled up by him and Devin Bush. Nelson is an imposing guard that looks to use his weight to bully defenders. So Heyward used a veteran move by engaging, then throwing him away. Nelson's complete commitment to charging Heyward never allowed him to recover:
As a ninth year veteran, Heyward has seen his fair share of wars and learned from them. That's how you get the upper hand on a young dominating player like Nelson. He used leverage and his own strength throughout the game to prevent Nelson from dominating his gap and opening up space in the middle for Mack.
Watch how Heyward engages Nelson and keeps him right at the line so that no extra space is created for Mack to attack. As soon as Heyward diagnosed where Mack was running, he shed Nelson and brought down Mack for no gain:
Heyward getting the best of Nelson was a very good sign for the Steelers. They won't face a better guard during the regular season and if Heyward can play like this, he'll dominate the interior gaps for the Steelers in their second half of the season.
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