The Pittsburgh Steelers don’t need their offense humming in August, but they should look comfortable running the plays they’ve practiced all summer. Getting blanked 17-0 by the New York Jets feels different when the offense can’t handle the material installed from Day 1.
Will Howard’s first preseason start gave the problem a face. The 24-year-old completed 10 of 15 passes for 74 yards and threw two interceptions, including one in the red zone, during a night when Pittsburgh rarely looked ready to score.
If this is how things look with a fraction of the offense in play, will they be ready to excecute the full playbook in just a few weeks?
Will Howard strips away the Pittsburgh Steelers’ preseason excuse
Howard explained that Pittsburgh’s problems surfaced on the concepts the offense knows best.
“At the end of the day in the preseason, we’re trying to execute our stuff,” Howard said. “It’s not a game plan where we’re coming in on third down, and we have a bunch of designer plays. We’re running our stuff.”
Howard’s explanation removes Pittsburgh’s easiest alibi. Coaches weren’t asking a young quarterback and a mix-and-match offense to solve an exotic weekly plan. They called concepts the group has continuously practiced, and the results included two turnovers, four sacks, and zero points.
Howard pushed the point further by saying the offense needed to be “brilliant in the basics” and couldn’t make mistakes on its base plays. That’s a tough sentence for any offensive staff to hear, especially after a full summer of installation.
Will Howard speaks to the media. @Acrisure pic.twitter.com/olzwLbz9qb
— Pittsburgh Steelers (@steelers) August 22, 2026
Pittsburgh also knew New York planned to lean on man coverage. Howard said the game plan included “a lot of runaways, man beaters,” meaning the offense got the looks it expected and had answers available.
Man-beating concepts aren’t automatic, of course. Receivers have to create separation, protection must hold up, and the quarterback has to throw on time and accurately. Howard’s two interceptions put plenty of responsibility on him, but the failed execution stretched across the unit.
Howard’s honesty helps explain why the shutout should bother Steelers fans more than the usual preseason clunker. Adding designer third-down calls won’t help much if the base offense can’t stay on schedule against an anticipated coverage. however.
Howard needed the start to strengthen his place in Pittsburgh’s quarterback room after losing his entire rookie season to a hand injury. He gets one more exhibition trip to Buffalo on Thursday to clean up those basics.
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