Well, another preseason game is in the books and the Steelers are winless. This time around, the loss came at the hands of the Buffalo Bills, a team that figures to be in contention for the AFC crown this season. I can't say the same for us.
Russell Wilson got the nod in the second home game of the preseason and he looked to me like he was unsure of what to do in certain situations. He lacked pocket presence as evidenced by the fact that he took three sacks, albeit he did not exactly have clean pockets on the aforementioned sacks.
With that in mind, let's see what we learned on the offensive side of the ball.
The Steelers offense was stuck in neutral against the Bills
Yes, the Steelers moved the ball on offense, for the most part; however, if you look at it from a holistic point of view, the offense essentially fell flat despite possessing the ball for slightly more than half of the game. I have said it before and I will say it again: when you win the time of possession, you should win the game.
The offense managed to gain two-hundred and nineteen yards but was able to convert only four out of thirteen third downs, zero out of three fourth downs, and went zero for two in the red zone or the 'red area' as Mike Tomlin would say.
As mentioned above, we won the time of possession, not by much, granted, but we still won the time of possession. Unfortunately, we didn't do much with the ball when we had it, thus we found ourselves yet again taking a loss when we probably should have won had we been able to get into the endzone even once.
The offensive line did not play particularly well, in my opinion. Wilson was sacked three times. One sack in particular bothered me immensely. Broderick Jones, our first-round pick in 2023, who was drafted to replace Dan Moore Jr. ostensibly, found himself playing right tackle and got completely 'steamrolled' by Greg Rousseau. The Jones situation is not good, but that is a discussion for another time.
Let's see what we learned on the defenisve side of the ball.
The Steelers defense looked solid against the Bills
While not completely at full strength, the Steelers defense played solidly, allowing the Bills only three field goals. The defense generated three sacks, What I was impressed with the most was that the sacks were generated by three different players.
It bodes well that the defense did not have to rely on one player to apply all the pressure. If that carries into the regular season, I dare say the defense will be further along than the offense right out of the gate.
The Steelers 'D' got on INT to boot, and held the Bills to two out of ten third down conversions, but the rush defense was porous, yielding one-hundred and sixty-seven yards on the ground. That's not good and that is not sustainable.
If we are going to have any chance of winning consistently this season, it looks like the defense will yet again have to be the catalyst for that consistency. Right now, there is no balance to this team. That said, let's see what else we learned.
The Steelers have looked outmatched in the first two preseason games
Look, I understand that is only preseason. Some would argue that it really doesn't matter what a team does in the preseason so long as it enters the regular season without significant injuries. I would normally tend to agree with that philosophy.
This iteration of the Steelers is concerning. We have four quarterbacks who are new to the team, we have a new offensive coordinator, Arthur Smith, who frankly has not shown any promise in creative or unique play calling, despite hopes to the contrary and our offensive line resembles a sieve, at times.
Although the defense is further along in their development than the offense is, at least from my vantage point, the defense has its own set of challenges. Giving up one hundred and sixty-seven yards on the ground and nearly a five-yard per carry average is not a recipe for success.
If we can't stop the run, we will not be able to hang in games for any extended period of time. In other words, we need to keep it close to have a chance to win. The way you keep it close is to make a team one dimensional. I think stopping the run is the best way to make a team one dimensional.
I will wrap up our discussion by saying this; we have one preseason game left then it's off to Atlanta to face the Falcons. We need to win the final preseason game. if for nothing else than to prove to ourselves that we can actually win a game. I do not envy Mike Tomlin right now, that much is certain.