The Pittsburgh Steelers are coming off their second consecutive preseason game in which they scored 27 points, and the NFL has been put on notice. While this is still only exhibition action, Mike Tomlin's team has shown just about everything fans have been hoping to see at this point in the summer, and the arrow is pointed up.
Following a thoroughly impressive win over the Bills, this team has the national media talking. Additionally, one beat writer weighs in with his thoughts on Pittsburgh's cornerback situation to start the 2023 season. Here's the latest Steelers news.
Steelers news:
It should come as no surprise at this point that the Pittsburgh Steelers are making headlines thanks to their back-to-back dominant preseason performances. While many thought their game against the Buccaneers may have been just a fluke or nothing more than a few nice drives against a bad football team, their showing against the Bills really has the media talking.
Recently, Tyler Sullivan of CBS Sports detailed the winners and losers of Preseason Week 2. Unsurprisingly the Pittsburgh Steelers were at the forefront of the winners' category. Here's some of what Sullivan had to say:
"It was an impressive showing for the Steelers starting offense en route to the 27-15 win over Buffalo. Kenny Pickett started the game and played the opening two series, leading the offense to back-to-back touchdown drives. The second-year quarterback was an efficient 3-for-4 passing for 43 yards, which included a 25-yard touchdown to tight end Pat Freiermuth. Running back Jaylen Warren also dazzled on the opening drive, taking a handoff 62 yards to the house."Tyler Sullivan, via CBS Sports
Sullivan pointed to a spectacular showing by Kenny Pickett and an outstanding run from Jaylen Warren as the reasons why the Steelers owned the second week of the preseason. This came against a more-than-capable Bills defense, no less.
The Steelers could complete the hat trick with their three straight monster preseason games if they can keep this same momentum against the Atlanta Falcons on the road this Thursday night. No matter what happens in their preseason finale, Pittsburgh is likely to be considered one of the biggest winners of exhibition action this summer.
More Steelers news:
In other Steelers news, Levi Wallace might be sticking around as a starting cornerback longer than many fans were hoping for. After Joey Porter Jr. turned heads with a dominant preseason debut against the Bills, fans were hoping to see him inserted into the starting lineup right away. That might not be the case.
Recently, Mark Kaboly of The Athletic insisted that Wallace is "locked into a starting spot" in Pittsburgh's defensive backfield. However, it might only be a matter of time before the more talented Porter is earning more defensive snaps.
Wallace is a savvy veteran with lots of starting experience at this point. It makes sense as to why Mike Tomlin would continue to entrust him with a starting role on defense. Unfortunately, Wallace is also very limited as an athlete (by NFL standards) and this has caused him to give up a lot of big plays last season.
The four interceptions in 2022 were nice, but Wallace is nothing more than a stop-gap starter at this point. Regardless of Kaboly's thoughts on the matter, we expect the starting CB job to shift from Wallace to Porter at some point this year -- possibly even early in the 2023 season.