3 standouts and (2 big duds) in Steelers blowout preseason win over the Falcons
- Steelers had plenty of studs to pick from in this contest
- There were a few shaky performances mixed in
By Tommy Jaggi
Pittsburgh Steelers fans got what they were looking for in the preseason finale. After back-to-back impressive performances by Mike Tomlin's team to open the preseason, the Steelers completed their impressive run with another blowout win in exhibition action.
This game appeared to be over from the very first moments. While Pittsburgh elected to play most of their starters, Falcons head coach Arthur Smith rolled with almost all backups in this contest. Still, Tomlin's team did exactly what we would want them to do in this situation; they blew their opponent out of the water.
As you can imagine in a 24-0 blowout like this, there are plenty of winners to choose from. However, not every performance was inspiring. Here are three studs and two duds from the Pittsburgh Steelers preseason win over the Atlanta Falcons.
Steelers Stud: Kenny Pickett
Kenny Pickett is becoming a regular visitor on the winners' list. For the third preseason game in a row, Pickett stole the show early in the contest with his ability to march his offense down the field and cap things off with a touchdown drive.
In his only two series, Pickett did exactly that. This included impressive throws down the sideline to starting receivers Diontae Johnson (33-yard pass) and George Pickens (35-yard pass). Pickens ended his evening with a 118.8 passer rating, per ESPN stats. Somehow, this was his lowest of the preseason so far.
This shows you just how good Pickett has been all summer. He finished completing 4 of 4 passes for 86 yards (21.5 yards per attempt) and his pass to Pickens came up just one yard shy of the endzone -- which would have greatly raised his passer rating.
Kenny Pickett has given fans more than enough reason to be excited about the future of this franchise heading into the start of the 2023 season.