Takeaways: Steelers need more iron sharpened after preseason loss to Bills
Steel City Underground presents post-game takeaways for every 2024 Pittsburgh Steelers preseason and regular season games, focusing on the black and gold for Steelers Nation.
Pittsburgh Steelers head coach Mike Tomlin likes to say that iron sharpens iron; on Saturday night, in their second NFL preseason game, it was apparent that the grindstone needs to be fired up. Yes, it was a preseason exhibition and evaluation, but the offense was not sharp or high energy. There are concerns about how good the depth in the defensive backfield really is, as well. Here are our takeaways from the game.
Fields outplayed Wilson
In his first in-game snaps as a member of the Steelers, veteran Russell Wilson was sacked in each of his first three offensive series. The loss of downs killed drives for the offense. A lot of blame can be placed on right tackle Broderick Jones who was tested early and failed to stay low and keep the Buffalo edge rush away from Wilson. A lot falls on what is an apparent slower, older Wilson who had little movement beyond the pocket and allowed himself to be swallowed-up.
Fields played the majority of the game. While his performance wasn’t stellar, he did manage to find ways to move the ball down the field. He wasn’t strong during the two-minute drive in the first half, and in the second he nearly threw an interception. The plan was to allow Fields to use his legs, which he did with limited success, but Arthur Smith not asking the quarterback to go for the keeper on a very short 3rd & 1 seemed strange, and resulted in a turnover on downs. Fields’ best drives occurred in the fourth quarter but two high throws, including a near interception and another near-touchdown pass, kept the Steelers offense from scoring.
The stats lines for both players were not special.
- Fields: 11-of-17 passing, 92 yards, 0 TD, 0 INT, 1 sack, rating 78.6, 8 carries for 42 yards.
- Wilson: 8-of-10 passing, 47 yards, 0 TD, 0 INT, 3 sacks, rating 86.3, 0 carries.
“It was good to be in the black and gold, to have the honor to wear the jersey. It’s a blessing. But we always want to be able to step on the field, between the white lines and find a way to win, and we didn’t do that tonight.” -Russell Wilson
Kyle Allen did not play Saturday night.
“There’s room for all of us to be better. Including me.” – Justin Fields
Someone is going to need to step up as the leader. With just one more game before the regular season, Wilson and Fields both need to find consistent rhythm.
Young offensive line struggled
Jones seemed overwhelmed at the right tackle position, but the Steelers’ young line is still learning the nuances of three new quarterbacks. Whether it was timing, how the cadence was called out, or just not playing as a complete unit, they allowed the Bills into the offensive backfield much too often.
Rookie Zach Frazier played the majority of the game at center and said, in a post-game interview, that everyone just needs to be “a little bit better.”
At one point, everyone but Frazier jumped when Fields excepted the snap without the ball, leading to Ed Hochuli’s son, Shawn – the referee for the game – imitatating his father by calling out “everyone but the center” on a false-start penalty against the Steelers.
“We didn’t do a good enough job of protecting the quarterback… We’ve got to do a better job in pass protection (than) we did, not only on possessions downs, but just in general. That can’t be a problem for us.” – Mike Tomlin
Defense allowed too many rushing yards
The Steelers did a decent job eliminating big run plays early in the game, but as the clock ticked and substitutions were made, it was obvious that some of the depth players – linemen, linebackers, and defensive backs – are not nearly as good at stopping the run.
In the game, Pittsburgh allowed nine rushing first-down conversions by Buffalo and 167 yards on 34 attempts. Preseason is where the cream rises to the top and some players fighting for a roster spot may have taken a hit for playing a bit too loose in that area of defense.
Missed tackles at the point of impact were a factor, as well.
- Injuries: Jaylen Warren (hamstring), Payton Wilson (concussion), Tyler Matakevich (unspecified and returned to the game), and Anthony Averett (hamstring).
Player of the game: Although Nick Herbig played his heart out (as we’ll illustrate in this upcoming week’s plays of the game), we have to give punter Cameron Johnston the scepter for this game. Johnston punted 5 times for 284 yards; his longest was a high, deep 65-yarder. He pinned two of those punts inside the Bills 20-yard line area.
Fun play of the game
From another angle: @ConnorHeyward1 timed his hurdle just right on this play #Steelers https://t.co/UzWWESgimw pic.twitter.com/N0GgKk07QM
— Christina Rivers (@3Rivers_Writer) August 18, 2024
Final score: 9-3
The Steelers will play their final preseason game on Saturday, August 24 against the Detroit Lions on the road.
