The Steelers beat the Detroit Lions at home to cap off an undefeated 2022 preseason
Well, the Steelers 2022 preseason is in the books. On a winning note, we beat the Detroit Lions at home to end the preseason. As I have repeatedly stated throughout our discussions, it’s great to get a win, particularly at home.
I have also repeatedly said this: We did not look all that good on either side of the ball en route to the win against the Lions. According to ESPN, we amassed less than 300 yards on offense. On defense, we allowed four first downs from penalties and allowed a fifty percent fourth-down completion percentage.
Let’s take a look at what we learned on the offensive side of the ball.
The Steelers still have a lot of work to do on offense
If you did not watch the game and only saw the final score, you might be thinking this: ‘Wow, we scored nineteen points and only gave up nine points. That’s great.’. I would say it’s great we won the game, as I always say, but I have to tell you that the execution was lacking and we just looked sloppy out there.
We were not really able to get the running game going, as evidenced by the fact that we finished with fifty-seven yards on the ground. If you did not watch the game, I would implore you to watch it. The offensive line was shaky at best.
We were flagged for several penalties, the holding penalties we received were the most concerning to me. Being flagged for holding typically means that your technique is not sound. Look, I am not naive to think that there is not holding on almost every play but drawing a flag for it means that the holding was too egregious to ignore.
I would delve into the lackluster and non-creative play calling, but what’s the point? We have been discussing that for over a year. I don’t see a need to keep rehashing something that is apparently not going to change any time soon.
Let’s see what we learned on the defensive side of the ball.
The Steelers defense looks prepared to start the regular season
When I say that the Steelers defense looks prepared to start the season, what I mean by that is this: With most of the front-line starters playing for most of the first half, the defense looked ready for week one.
It was good to see Cameron Heyward out there playing alongside T.J.Watt. It was also good to see the first-team defense ‘pitch a shutout’ in the first half. Once the backups got into the game, the scene turned as it has during the preseason.
It’s not that the backups played horribly, but as we have discussed throughout the preseason, the drop-off in quality from the first team to every other team is significant and concerning at most positions. Obviously, not all positions are lacking in quality backups but I would argue that most are lacking.
Let’s see what else we learned.
The Steelers Head Coach still has some tough decisions to make
I think it’s fair to say that Mike Tomlin will have some difficult decisions to make in the coming days. As we have discussed all throughout preseason, Tomlin and company will be making personnel decisions that will shape the 2022 Steelers.
Based on what we saw from the three preseason games, I have to say I am gravely concerned about the offense and special teams. The defense will be stout as it usually is, but Tomlin needs to address the depth at key positions.
The most important decision is this: Who will be the Steelers starting QB for week one? All three QBs played well in the preseason. I would not want to be Tomlin right now. We went undefeated in preseason and that’s great, but preseason doesn’t count. Can we keep the momentum going into week one? Only time will tell.