Hey Steelers Fans. Welcome to Sunday.
The Kickoff
As I do each morning following a game, I take few minutes to collect my thoughts (without the adrenaline immediately after the game) and put them here. Hopefully with a more fair and balanced approach then right after the game. Last night the Pittsburgh Steelers defeated the Jacksonville Jaguars 31-25 in the preseason opener for both teams. Let’s get to it.
Rudolph and Thompson
It’s hard to find fault with two guys who put up 31 points of offense between them. Mason Rudolph and Skylar Thompson combined had a passer rating above 135. Thompson threw three touchdown passes while Rudolph directed an excellent opening drive going 9 of 10 and a beautiful ‘down the seam’ strike to Darnell Washington. It’s fair to say that despite his performance, Thompson will still get cut in favor of Will Howard. That said, he did more than enough to ensure he will find work somewhere.
Discipline!
Did you notice that the Steelers didn’t have any pre-snap penalties until the fourth quarter? It was part of an overall look I had watching this team last night. Other than Washington’s unsportsmanlike penalty for dunking the ball over the crossbar (such a stupid penalty) the team played very clean.
New Looks on Offense?
There were two things that struck me immediately with the offense last night. First was the pace of the unit. They would go about with a normal pace then all of the sudden they’d hurry up to the line and get off a quick snap. Personally, I love this. Any advantage you can get over the defense, you take it. Getting up to the line of scrimmage quickly forces the defense to adjust and fast! The other major thing I noticed was the footwork and handwork of the two quarterbacks.
I tend to believe this is a direct result of Aaron Rodgers’ presence. Both Rudolph and Thompson were very demonstrative with their play-action fakes. They made very deliberate movements to shield the handoff or fake from the defense as well. Rodgers has always thrived on play-action and is one of the all-time best at it. I more than welcome this to Arthur Smith’s offense.
Same Old Story?
Rookie Kaleb Johnson had eight carries for just 20 yards and frankly, half of those carries resulted in him getting contacted before he even got to the line of scrimmage. The running attack has struggled throughout Training Camp so this wasn’t a huge surprise but there has to be some concern. Recently signed Running Back Lew Nichols found some success late in the game behind the backups but we need to see this earlier in the game.
Um, I Have Questions….
Apparently Mike Tomlin received ZERO questions in his postgame press conference last night. There were beat writers at the game so I’m very curious as to why there weren’t any questions.
Defensively Speaking
There were a lot of guys who made cases for themselves last night especially in the secondary. James Pierre has been facing an uphill challenge throughout Camp and Beanie Bishop, Jr is also a guy fighting for a roster spot. Both guys played well last night. They were solid in coverage and tackled pretty well too… Rookie Carson Bruener led the team in tackles with seven. He faces long odds in terms of making the roster with so many guys ahead of him at Inside Linebacker but the hustle and effort he’s known for was on display… If Payton Wilson has any post-career plans I do not know but I would suggest WWE wrestling for starters. He had a tremendous body slam in the first quarter… Rookie Jack Sawyer played a ton of snaps last night with both T.J. Watt and Alex Highsmith in shorts. He was exactly what I expected. Really solid against the run and a very vanilla in the pass rush. It’ll take time but the willingness is there.
70?
It was ironic that the Jags’ Cam Little hit a 70-yard field goal to end the first half because we were discussing this exact thing on the SCB Steelers Podcast Thursday night. I remember the days when a 45-yard field goal was considered difficult. Not anymore! These guys are consistently making 50 and 60-yard field goals now.
Random Reads
Ke’Shawn Williams, Brandon Johnson and Roc Taylor each had solid moments in pass catching last night. This is a really nice and deep group… Kudos to Arthur Smith for getting Roman Wilson involved early. I think that’s good for his confidence and perhaps the offense’s in general… The TV crew of the Jags’ which I was forced to watch using NFL+ was not good. Bucky Brooks sounded like he needed a throat lozenge all night and the play-by-play guy had numerous errors… Newly signed QB Logan Woodside got a few snaps late in the game. He’s a Camp arm at this point and is just trying to look competent enough to find work elsewhere… Hello Max Hurleman! Another one who is likely destined for the Practice Squad, Hurleman showed his versatility as a pass catcher and looked good doing it… This coming Saturday the Steelers will host Tampa Bay in their only home preseason game. I’m hopeful we see Aaron Rodgers even if just for a series. Veteran or not, I think he needs a few snaps in game situations behind this O-Line.
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