5 burning questions from the Steelers win over the Jaguars
The Pittsburgh Steelers had a number of ups and downs in their second preseason contest, this time on the road at the Jacksonville Jaguars.
While everyone was riding the emotional highs of several team firsts against Seattle in the first game, some harsher realities became apparent during this game.
As we close in on more roster cuts and the eventual large swath of releases one week away, let’s examine some questions that were left unanswered in the team’s 16-15 victory.
Did Kenny Pickett win the starting QB job?
The multimillion-dollar question on everyone’s mind is “Who will be the Steelers starting quarterback in Week 1 of the regular season?”
That answer may have been covertly relayed to us at the beginning of the second half, when Kenny Pickett was pulled for Mason Rudolph after only attempting 7 passes.
The crazy thing is, people didn’t see it for that – but it’s all Pickett had to do to win over head coach Mike Tomlin, who placed his rookie ahead into the QB2 spot over Rudolph, ahead of Saturday’s game.
The Steelers offense had struggled with Mitchell Trubisky as the starter. The veteran quarterback was under heavy pressure from the beginning, scrambling to complete a nice 29-yard pass to WR Chase Claypool on a 3rd-and-6, but that was the biggest highlight on the evening.
Trubisky was nearly picked ahead of a missed Chris Boswell field goal, then went three-and-out after being sacked. His third drive would finish with five plays for 33 yards, as he ended the evening 5-of-8 for 60 yards and a 85.4 rating.
Pickett entered with six minutes to go in the half, behind much of the same offensive line – and skill position players. He would move the ball immediately, but was stopped cold with two drive-killing penalties (illegal shift, holding).
Pickett’s second opportunity yielded a touchdown drive behind pass completions of 17, 11, and 24 yards, before an 11-yard would-be TD to Diontae Johnson was nullified by an offensive holding call.
Pickett would come right back, finding Benny Snell for an 11-yard touchdown on the very next play, before being pulled for Rudolph – who despite winning the game (and the Steelers Digest Player of the Week) appears to firmly be in backup consideration.
Pickett getting yanked so soon may have tipped the Steelers hat as to their plan all along: make the rookie QB work his way up the chart just in time for training camp to be over.
The rest of the competition will now be fought behind closed doors… where the team controls the media narrative. This keeps the pressure off of the young player while allowing the staff to bring him along at their pace.
Should Pickett play in Sunday’s preseason finale against Detroit, the starting job could be all but his to lose.
Did Benny Snell do enough to keep his job?
Snell was already on the hot seat headed into this game. The fourth-year running back out of Kentucky has been plagued by injuries over the years and less than reliable when he has been called upon in spot duty as the team’s backup to bell cow Najee Harris.
Snell likely lost ground in his fight to remain on the roster by sitting out the first preseason game against the Seahawks. On Saturday, he had a chance to redeem himself, but may have ended up doing worse than better.
Snell’s 3 carries went for a total of -2 yards on the evening.
He redeemed himself on an 11-yard touchdown catch-and-run from Pickett, as well as a nice special teams tackle in punt coverage.
However, the run game was rough throughout this week, as the Steelers only rushed for 24 yards on 14 carries. Jaylen Warren, who many believe will supplant Snell, had 3 yards on 3 carries, while last week’s starter, Anthony McFarland, had 2 for 1.
Overall, it wasn’t a good night for the backfield and that fact could keep Snell on the active roster. For now.
Was the Steelers OL really bad? Or the Jaguars front 7 really good?
Only one Steelers quarterback took a sack (Mitch Trubisky) but all three were under siege at various points throughout the game. Trubisky started under fire the most, scrambling to save his life, before Kenny Pickett came in and stood tall in the pocket – especially taking heavy fire on a pass to Pat Freiermuth.
Likewise, Mason Rudolph was pressured into throwing a pass that ended up in an intentional grounding call, and by technicality of the officials, a safety.
But was the line really that bad? Yes and no.
It’s apparent experimenting with Kendrick Green at left guard is most likely over, after the guard, who converted to center last season, converted back to playing guard, only to get pushed around.
LT Dan Moore Jr. continues to underwhelm after finishing 2021 as a riser. At times, it’s hard to tell if his play is influenced by the lack of a better guard next to him – the aforementioned Green is the sixth such player Moore has been alongside since the start of last season.
For some reason, fans continue to beg the team to sign a center, but Mason Cole has been the best of the lot. James Daniels and Chuks Okorafor had a rough night too, but nowhere near what the left side of the line was facing, against a stacked Jacksonville Jaguars defensive front.
Yes, the Jaguars have a great front 7, anchored by several first round picks such as Josh Allen and this year’s top overall pick, Travon Walker.
They made the Steelers offensive line eat their lunch, and quite possibly exposed that they’re not much improved from last season.
Can Pressley Harvin be a gamechanger?
Harvin’s punts were far more consistent this weekend, as the punter booted distances of 41, 47, 42, and 47, with one of those inside the 20, while none landed for a touchback.
Following the Steelers safety, he then nailed a kick 76 yards!
If the Steelers are going to have field position struggles on offense this season, it’s imperative they help their defense in any way they can. This includes Harvin, who has reportedly been booming kicks at the end of training camp.
A great punter can flip the field and force opponents into changing their play calling. This game showed how tight some scores could end up. If the Steelers need to eek out a victory or two by the skin of their teeth, then Harvin being at the top of his game in 2022 is a must.
What other players are on the hot seat?
While Calvin Austin and Najee Harris didn’t suit up on Saturday, their spots are far from in jeopardy. A number of other Steelers didn’t play, including for a second-straight week, Chris Oladokun, who is likely headed to the practice squad (at best) at this point.
Mike Tomlin insisted on playing the offensive line into the third quarter, which may have eaten into the playing time of veteran tackles Joe Haeg and Chaz Green. However, you can possibly read into their non-participation as being near the bottom of the roster and potential releases at the end of the month, especially after the unit performed poorly and those two players still failed to register a snap.
TE Jace Sternberger also stands out, in a bad way, as he played on special teams but wasn’t used on offense this week. This after playing 49% of the offensive snaps against Seattle.
Marcus Allen, Miles Killebrew, Arthur Maulet and Montravious Adams were all scratches as well, which is concerning for their futures as each is in a heavy competition on deeper positional depth charts.
