Week 2 of the Steelers Preseason went just about as well as anyone could imagine. The Steelers put on a spectacular performance in front of the home crowd. Both offense and defense thrived against the Bills’ starters.
The Good (Offense)
The offense started the game off with a bang. Jaylen Warren sprinted into the endzone on a 62-yard touchdown run. This would’ve beaten the longest Steelers run from 2022 by over 20 yards. Explosive runs were completely missing from the offense last year, it’s looking much better for 2023.
Following this run, the Steelers forced the Bills to punt after three plays. Calvin Austin III returned the punt 54 yards all the way up to the Buffalo 25-yard line. If Austin III can bring that speed and agility to the offense, even more explosive plays are seemingly in store.
Immediately after this, Kenny Pickett threw a dart to Pat Freiermuth for a touchdown. Just like that, the Steelers were up 14-0 not even five minutes into the game. Mike Tomlin elected to take the starters out at this point because he had seen enough.
The Good (Defense)
Every single one of the edge rushers looked like they could be starters. Watt and Highsmith expectedly both played great consistently pressuring Josh Allen. In addition to them, Markus Golden looked explosive off the edge, stopping a few runs as well.
However, the true star of this preseason has been rookie Nick Herbig. Herbig was beating tackles left and right to get into the backfield and make plays. He has incredible bend and looks like one of the fastest players on the defense. This all amounted to a strip sack in the third quarter where he absolutely torched his blocker.
If Nick Herbig was the star of the front 7, then Joey Porter Jr. was the star in the secondary. Porter Jr. was playing great coverage on Stefon Diggs when he was asked. Porter Jr. played the majority of the game due to him missing the first preseason game. Right before halftime, Porter Jr. made arguably the play of the night when he intercepted his first NFL pass. He then gave the ball to his dad, former Steeler legend Joey Porter Sr.
The rest of the secondary was playing great as well. Chandon Sullivan made an astounding play batting a ball down and intercepting it. Elijah Riley intercepted a pass that was deflected by Cole Holcomb. Patrick Peterson looked rejuvenated and played good coverage.
The Bad
The run defense looked somewhat subpar at the beginning of the game. Nothing too major but the interior of the d-line generated minimal push against the pass and wasn’t anything to write home about against the run.
The only other problem was the backup offensive line. Kendrick Green and Spencer Anderson had a couple of penalties. After the starters went out of the game the run blocking definitely fell off. Overall, the people who will make the roster looked good. It is also worth noting that Nate Herbig has yet to play.
Conclusion
Steelers preseason week 2 was a massive success for the organization. In general, preseason and training camp have been great for the players and coaches. The future is looking bright for Pittsburgh.
Stay tuned for more exciting NFL content, including roster moves, in depth analysis, and more news from around the league.
Feature image courtesy of Steelers.com
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