The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly of Steelers easy preseason win vs. Falcons

The Bad: Steelers Second-Half Offense

As good as the game was, something's got to be 'the bad'. Overall the Steelers were solid the entire game, and this was simply the one team facet that sticks out the most.

This was more of a collective effort rather than solely being a Mason Rudolph issue. Still, Rudolph was 3/9 for just 15 yards. That doesn't look pretty in the box score.

The passing game failed to establish any sort of rhythm. Rudolph played well in the first two weeks, but his targets in Week 3 were some of the deepest reserves on the Steelers roster offensively. The timing was off and the bottom string receivers didn't step up.

The running game struggled late again with the reserves as it has all preseason. Xazavian Valladay managed to average 3.7 yards per carry, but Darius Hagans and Greg Bell struggled to get anything going.

This all circles back to the unit that has performed the worst all preseason, and that's the offensive line from the second string down.

On the bright side, the bulk of the names included here aren't guys that will be on the final 53-man roster. The one that will, Rudolph, looks like the best third-string quarterback in the NFL, as lowly a title as that is.

Still, while the Steelers enter the regular season with a shallow injury list, depth is an important factor. The reserves on offense haven't shown to be ready to match what the starters have displayed throughout the 2023 preseason.