The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly of Steelers preseason Week 1 win

Every week through the Pittsburgh Steelers 2023 campaign, I'll diagnose the good, the bad, and the ugly regardless of the outcome of each contest. It's always wise to take note of what went particularly well but take an extra step to see what can be improved upon. What's working, what can work a bit better, and what appears to be completely broken?

Granted, it's the preseason and the reps are given in large chunks to players that will not be a part of the Steelers Sunday efforts, there are plenty of notes to take in the first week of the preseason.

To open the preseason, the Steelers traveled down to Tampa to face the Buccanneers and left Raymond-James Stadium with a 27-17 victory.

The next best time to overreact to the Steelers performance will be Week 1, but for now, we'll settle for the preseason opener where the Steelers looked to pick up right where they left off in the 2022 season. Early indicators point towards that being the case.

Defensively, the Steelers looked strong throughout the night, even without T.J. Watt, Cam Heyward, and Minkah Fitzpatrick in the first quarter. Every string on the depth chart created pressure in the passing game and stuffed the run consistently.

With the big-name starters on defense held out of the game, even more eyes were glued to the offense. Things were far from perfect for four quarters, but there was plenty to take away from that side of the ball. Some names showed they can be quality pieces to the puzzle while others raised further concerns.