3 quick-hitters from the Steelers win against the Eagles

The Steelers acquired their second 2021 preseason win, against the Eagles, last Thursday night. Here are my observations from the win. 

Preseason games are by no means the best way to try and scout a team. However, there are still some pretty big key points that can be seen just by watching from the naked eye. In the Steelers and Eagles game, the Steelers had a couple of glaring issues that need to be addressed.

Mason Rudolph

Once again, we have witnessed another lackluster performance from the Steelers’ backup quarterback, Mason Rudolph. It seems every snap he takes with the offense, more reassurance is given that he is not the future. The Steelers have given him plenty of time and experience to try and prove himself, but it is not something that seems as if it will happen.

In the Thursday night game, he put up a decent stat line of 8-9, 177 yards passing, and one sack. He finished the game with a quarterback rating of 102.3. 

His stat line, however, is not the issue. It is how he plays the game. He is too scared of making a mistake, therefore he does not take the necessary risks. He seems unwilling to throw the ball more than six yards past the line of scrimmage. We see constant check down after check down, even on third and longs. Not to mention, he also got Najee Harris lit up on a 3rd and 11, with about 8 minutes left in the first quarter, on a check down that flew over his head.

To go along with his poor play, he also has not led the Steeler’s offense on a drive that has accumulated a single point this whole preseason! Meanwhile, Dwayne Haskins and the offense have accumulated 30!

Devin Bush

The Steelers former 2019 first-round pick had his fair share of struggles in his first game back. He is recovering from an ACL injury this past season after appearing in just five games. It is safe to say that there is still some rust that needs to be knocked off. He recorded just two tackles and gave up a big completion to Eagle’s tight end, Dallas Goedert, for a 34 yard gain.

The reports coming out of camp, for Devin Bush, however, have been fairly positive. He is without doubt the best middle linebacker on the Steelers roster and that has been evident. Even though he has looked decent, he still has not looked like himself. This is to be expected after dealing with a major injury.

Robert Spillane

Robert Spillane was somebody who came out of nowhere for the Steelers last season and made numerous big plays for the defense. Everyone had high hopes for him going into this upcoming season, but things have not looked as hot for him lately.

He has had a very shaky camp. He has struggled in coverage and in the traditional “backs-on-backers” drill. Najee Harris, most noticeably, has gotten the best out of him on multiple occasions in both aspects.

So far in the preseason, he has 7 total tackles to go along with no passes defenses and no quarterback hits. It is a safe assumption that the Steeler’s recent trade for former Jaguars and Browns linebacker, Joe Schobert, was based on the recent play of Robert Spillane. There are also hopes that this newly acquired player will raise the level of play, from Devin Bush, as well.