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

The Good: Steelers First Drive

The long wait to see the Steelers offense take the field with hopes of marked improvement is finally over and it appears that improvement is as advertised so far.

Many Steelers fans would be happy knowing going into the game the offense's first three plays would be passes. They'd still have a hard time believing it could be the case because, after all, Matt Canada is still the offensive coordinator.

The first three plays were indeed pass plays that Kenny Pickett completed to Diontae Johnson, Pat Freiermuth, and Najee Harris in order. His next two completions connected with Johnson, closing the receiver's night with three catches for 32 yards.

Jaylen Warren got the only two run plays of the drive, picking up 11 yards, 10 of which came on his second carry.

Back to the air and Pickett found George Pickens over the middle. The second-year emerging superstar broke a tackle and streaked into the endzone for a 33-yard touchdown.

While it's definitely an expectation for the Steelers to establish a bully ball mentality in the 2023 season, it's a huge breath of relief that the offense came out showing it can hold its own in the passing game. Pickett looked poised and confident as ever. The offensive line did allow some slight pressure, but overall there wasn't much cause for concern from the first group.

It's one drive against a down-trending Tampa Bay team in the preseason, but it's perfectly reasonable to get a bit giddy over this drive.