After a preseason opener featuring a duo of fantastic debuts at quarterback, the Pittsburgh Steelers saw their offense tumble back down to Earth in a 17-0 loss to the New York Jets in Week 2 of exhibition play.
The leadup to the game was highlighted by the announcement that Will Howard would get the start, as head coach Mike McCarthy said he saw all he needed to see from Mason Rudolph and gave him the night off. Unfortunately, the Ohio State product did anything but impress.
After a three and out and a four-play
drive that ended with a punt, Howard tossed an interception directly to Jets safety Andre Cisco in the red zone. The interception killed what had been a 12-play drive. The next drive ended in similar fashion with Howard under-throwing a pass to Roman Wilson that was picked off by Samuel Womack. The former sixth-round pick’s day was done after the first half, finishing with 74 yards and a pair of interceptions on 10-of-15 passing. With a chance to potentially show he was worthy of being the backup to Aaron Rodgers, Howard, instead, may have played himself off the 53-man roster all together.
Unfortunately, it wasn’t a picturesque night for Drew Allar, either, but for different reasons. The Steelers’ offensive line gave up constant pressure, allowing the third-round pick to get sacked three times. Allar did, however, avoid pressure and broke out to the left before launching a 38-yard pass down the sideline to Lake McRee for the longest play of the game for the Steelers. However, seven dropped passes and a lack of separation from the likes of Cornell Powell, Levi Wentz, Jaheim Bell, and Joaqin Davis led to an 11-of-23, 110-yard outing for Allar.
Defensively, the first-team unit looked less than prepared. The Jets marched down the field to begin the game, driving 69 yards in 10 plays and ending the drive with a touchdown pass from Smith to Jelani Woods. On the pass, both Alex Highsmith and Patrick Queen crashed on Smith, leaving Woods wide open in the flat. Pittsburgh kept the Jets from reaching the end zone again until late in the fourth quarter when Quincy Skinner caught a 31-yard touchdown.
Of course, in preseason, the final score isn’t important, it’s how individual players look that matters most, and Pittsburgh did have a few performances that stood out in a positive light. Defensive tackle Yahya Black got a big mit on a Geno Smith throw, batting it down at the line of scrimmage. DeShon Elliott forced a fumble on third down. And while it wasn’t recovered by the Steelers, it was good to see a healthy Elliott making plays. Carson Bruener had a tremendous sequence of plays, as well, batting down a Cade Klubnik pass and then sacking Klubnik with under a minute left in the first half. The return of No. 50 Elandon Roberts was also a highlight of the night for the defense, as he led the team with five tackles, one of which was for loss and other that came on fourth down and ended a Jets drive. Second-year edge rusher Jack Sawyer had a nice night, as well, picking up a sack and a pass deflection while rookie Robert-Spears Jennings and veteran Rayshawn Jenkins both looked good in pass coverage and crashing down in the run game, respectively.
Offensively, both Howard and Allar had a few nice rips downfield. Howard connected with Ben Skowronek on a third-and-eight for a 16-yard gain and had a nice 12 yard completion to Robert Tonyan. Allar had the deep connection to McRee, as well as 15 and 17-yard shots to Isaiah Winstead. That’s about all the good to come from the offense, though. The pair of interceptions from Howard far outweigh the few completions that moved the chains, he offensive line was putrid in all four quarters, and none of the skill position players who were on the field for the majority of the second half are NFL-caliber players.
Pittsburgh will close out its preseason next Thursday night in Buffalo against the Bills. Then comes the cut down to 53 players ahead of Week 1 against the Atlanta Falcons.
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