Biggest takeaways from Steelers preseason shootout vs Seahawks

The Pittsburgh Steelers came away with a victory over the Seahawks in their first preseason game. Here are my biggest takeaways. 

It’s been a while since I’ve watched a preseason game where Steelers fans seemed as excited as this. On Saturday night, Pittsburgh hosted the Seattle Seahawks for their first exhibition action of 2022.

This was a big contest for many young Steelers. So much depends on the development of young players and high draft choices to determine how good this team could be in the future. While there are things that I would have liked to have seen Pittsburgh do better, this was a pretty strong performance by some key Steelers players, and fans should be pleased with the results.

The Steelers ultimately won this contest in a 32-25 shootout that finished with a game-winning drive from rookie quarterback, Kenny Pickett. Here are my biggest takeaways from the game:

George Pickens has limitless upside

George Pickens apparently decided to pick up right where he left off at Steelers training camp — making defensive backs look silly. Despite being a 21-year-old rookie, the second-round pick rolled with the starters to begin the game, and immediately continued the strong connection with Mitch Trubisky that we’ve seen throughout camp.

Pickens recorded the first reception of the evening for Pittsburgh and capped off his first ever offensive drive in the NFL with a 26-yard touchdown reception in the back corner of the endzone (one that required incredible concentration, I might add).

A stat line of 3 receptions, 43 yards, and a touchdown doesn’t seem all that impressive but considering Pickens did all of this very early in the contest before Mike Tomlin decided his evening was done, the damage could have been much worse to the Seahawks. I couldn’t be more pleased with his debut performance. He should have a massive role on offense this year.

The stage wasn’t too big for Kenny Pickett

I’ve got to be honest: I was pretty nervous for Kenny Pickett entering his first preseason game with the Steelers. Despite his five years of college experience at Pitt, Pickett has been up and down during training camp. I expected a bit of a sloppy start, but what we got was much more than I anticipated.

While Pickett didn’t make any spectacular plays with his arm vertically, he seemed cool, calm, and collected as he marched the Steelers offense down the field for a score on his opening drive in the thrid quarter. Pickett also showed touch and accuracy on some impressive throws outside the hashes.

Though he did take a few costly sacks, Pickett made up for this with a game-winning touchdown time as time was nearly expiring. He needs to improve on his pedestrian 6.3 yards per attempt, but he did complete 13 of 15 passes and finished the game with an impressive 132.6 passer rating, via ESPN.

Steelers defense was struggling without a few key starters

Without T.J. Watt, Cameron Heyward, and Minkah Fitzpatrick, I didn’t expect the Steelers defense to have an excellent showing. However, it was more porous than I thought it would be. Despite going against Geno Smith and Drew Lock at quarterback and not having to face playmakers like DK Metcalf or Tyler Lockett, Pittsburgh’s defense struggled.

This unit was gashed for 159 yards and 6.1 yards per carry on the ground, and they gave up several big plays through the air. Outside of Tre Norwood and Arthyr Maulet, there didn’t seem to be a defensive player who played particularly well.

It was at least encouraging that the starting unit on the night (which was missing a handful of players) still outplayed the backups, but it’s not ideal to surrender 25 points in a preseason game to a team that is projected to be one of the worst in the league. We will look for a better performance next week.

We’ve got a real competition for Steelers backup RB

I’m really excited about the competition heating up at the running back position. With Najee Harris and Benny Snell both out for this contest, Anthony McFarland got the nod as the starter and had a really strong performance. He busted off a few chunk plays and finished the contest with 7 carries for 56 yards — an impressive 8.0 yards per carry.

McFarland’s strong performance was followed by two undrafted rookie running backs trying to make a name for themselves: Jaylen Warren and Master Teague. Both players earned some tough yardage and finished the game with over 5.0 yards per carry.

Behind Najee Harris, it seems like the battle for RB2 is starting to look wide open. Mike Tomlin still loves “Benny Snell football,” but if these young guys continue to impress, it will be interesting to see who earns the final spots on the roster at the position.

Mitch Trubisky gives us some level of confidence

I really liked what I saw from Mitch Trubisky in his first preseason action with the Pittsburgh Steelers. He showcased his ability to move within the pocket and keep his eyes downfield — something Ben Roethlisberger struggled with the past two seasons.

Trubisky’s 9.0 yards per attempt was by far the highest of any quarterback for either team on the night, and I loved his willingness to throw the ball down the field. Despite respectable performances from both Kenny Pickett and Mason Rudolph, Trubisky certainly looks to be in the driver’s seat to be Pittsburgh’s starting QB from the gate this year.

I’m going to be taking a deeper dive into my notes from the Steelers first preseason game against the Seahawks, but these five things really stood out to me watching the game live.