Good morning (or good afternoon in this case) from Pittsburgh after the Steelers’ 17-0 loss to the New York Jets. To say the Steelers’ didn’t play well on offense would be like saying the Hindenburg disaster was merely a little fire. Pittsburgh ended the night with averaging just 3.6 yards per play, went 5-of-16 on third downs, and just about every player who took the field in the second half looked like their only experience was watching a video on how to play football 30 seconds before taking the field.
From the rough offensive performance, to the quarterback battle that is now all but decided, it’s the morning after the Steelers’ Week 2 preseason loss.
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Will Howard makes QB decision very easy
Will Howard entered Friday night with a chance to make the jobs of Mike McCarthy and the entire offensive staff very difficult. Had he built off a solid Week 1 performance and thrown a touchdown while leading multiple scoring drives, there would be a real question as to who the Steelers should keep at quarterback. Do they make Howard QB2 and ship Mason Rudolph to a quarterback-needy team? Do they just keep all four? Instead, the Ohio State product made their lives very easy by throwing two bad interceptions and solidifying Rudolph as the backup to Aaron Rodgers.
This is the Will Howard I was more or less expecting to see, and the one we frankly did see through the majority of training camp. It’s why he was a sixth-round pick – mediocre arm, average at best traits, and poor awareness. It wasn’t just the two interceptions that drew massive red flags, the sack he took from David Bailey was especially questionable. Yes, Broderick Jones didn’t have a good rep, but look at all the space Howard had both in front and to the left of him to step up and away from the pressure. Instead, he backed directly into it. These are the same things we saw from Kenny Pickett sans the pirouette in the pocket.
This isn’t a player with a high ceiling. The only way Howard will be a Steeler in 2026 is if he re-joins them on the practice squad after getting cut.
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Let Drew Allar play with actual NFL players
Drew Allar didn’t have a night that equaled his electric debut, either, but anyone who watched will tell you his 11-of-23 stat line is not indicative of how he played. He had the play of the night for the Steelers, completing a 38-yard bomb to Lake McRee downfield after escaping pressure, and he also fit a ball into a tight window to the opposite sideline to Isaiah Winstead for a 17-yard gain. However, I went back and watched every throw of Allar’s from last night and counted six drops:
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Drop 1: seven yards downfield by Joaquin Davis
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Drop 2: 15 yards downfield by Jakobie Keeney-James
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Drop 3: eight yards downfield by Lake McRee
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Drop 4: six yards downfield by Jakobie Keeney-James
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Drop 6: 17 yards downfield by Lance Mason
Adding up the drops and how far downfield they took place, Allar’s stat line would have been 17-of-23 for 180 yards. And just look at the names of who he was throwing to. How about starting him in the preseason finale against the Buffalo Bills and see what he looks like throwing to Germie Bernard and Roman Wilson instead of guys who will be selling nipple rings at Hot Topic in two weeks.
Horrid showing from offensive line
There’s no real such thing as “offensive line depth” in the NFL. At best, you have one, maybe two guys who you feel comfortable throwing in should something happen to a starter. For the Steelers, they may not even have that many. Jack Driscoll was brutal in pass protection, Brock Hoffman wasn’t much better, and Broderick Jones is a legit bubble guy who may not make the roster after allowing two sacks. I have few concerns about the Steelers’ starting five – they’ll be fine. If any of them go down for an extended period of time, though, the alarms will start going off.
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Several secondary players continue to make case for roster spots
Cornerback Doneiko Slaughter has been the surprise of the preseason for the Steelers. He had a terrific camp, and once again ran with the first-team defense, finishing with three tackles. Safety Rayshawn Jenkins also had himself a strong showing, as Patrick Graham deployed him into the backfield on multiple occasions, resulting in a tackle for loss and a near sack that forced an intentional grounding penalty. Robert Spears-Jennings also continued to impress, the most notable play coming in the third quarter when he closed in on a pass and leveled running back Sam Scott to force an incompletion. The Steelers still have things to figure out on the back end, as all three of these players have their own respective question marks, be it youth or lacking consistent starts throughout a long career, but all three guys have shown something this summer. Don’t be surprised if they all find roster spots.
The linebacker room is all but set
Malik Harrison – *insert hand on shoulder meme here.*
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The Steelers’ linebacking corps is all but written in Sharpie at this point. They brought back Elandon Roberts, who had a terrific night (team-leading five tackles, one tackle for loss), as did second-year player Carson Bruener (One sack, one pass batted down). With Cole Holcomb the fifth guy to round out a rotation led by Patrick Queen and Payton Wilson, the Steelers will cut Harrison and save about $4.75 million against the cap.
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