Three Steelers who earned As against Arizona

Raise your hand if you really thought the Pittsburgh Steelers would rally back and beat the Arizona Cardinals after falling behind early 7-0.

Stop lying.

Anyway, the Steelers provided one of this week’s big surprises by upsetting the Cardinals, who came into the game favored by four and a half points, according to Odds Shark. Bruce Arians brought a 4-1 team that was leading the league in point differential into Heinz Field and they simply got whooped when it mattered.

In the second half Pittsburgh came roaring back and outscored Arizona 22-3. A lot of players stepped up with big performances, but here’s three guys who really stood out and earned A grades for the game.

1. Cameron Heyward

More than any one other aspect of the game, I believe Pittsburgh’s pass rush was responsible for the win. The Steelers’ front seven routinely got pressure in the Cardinals’ backfield and totally threw Carson Palmer off his game.

Palmer completed only 29 of 45 passes and appeared to be rattled by the second half as he missed several throws he normally makes with his eyes closed.

Cameron Heyward was usually in the mix when Palmer’s pocket collapsed and he finished the game with three quarterback hits. Also, Heyward has to get props for continuing to defy the NFL and honor his dad on his eye-black:

I already wrote on this last week but it’s worth repeating: the NFL is being really, really, really stupid and frankly mean on this issue. All this in the middle of the breast cancer awareness month campaign. Their hypocrisy is breathtaking at times.

I hope Heyward never stops and plays out of his mind the rest of the year.