Below are my notes and observations upon reviewing the Pittsburgh Steelers’ preseason opening loss to the New York Giants on Saturday night, beginning with the second half of the game.
- The Steelers open the half with all third-string personnel aside from the offensive line. David Paulson actually pulls and throws a block.
- Martavis Bryant may be good at drawing flags, but hopefully we see more.
- Ugly bootleg by Landry Jones, who can’t beat the edge rusher to the clear and only narrowly avoids a sack.
- It’s not overly surprising, but the second-string offensive line gets off to a bad start, particularly Chris Hubbard, who struggles working with the left tackle and center.
- Brad Wing begins the half with a much better punt, with good distance and solid hang time, but the coverage isn’t quite there.
- Josh Mauro picks up where he left off with his strong motor. Even Cam Thomas shows some motor early in this quarter.
- Shamarko Thomas and Sean Spence may be the only two players on this team that can challenge Troy Polamalu’s instincts. Good thing one of them is in line to replace him.
- Good bull rush by Arthur Moats, who helps force a hurried throw that Brice McCain gets in the way of without drawing a flag.
- Guy Whimper struggling at right tackle. He gets beat cleanly around the edge by Damontre Moore, who admittedly is a talent. Moore brings Jones down as he hurries the throw.
- Thanks to good hang time on Wing’s second punt of the half, the coverage is able to get down field after the Giants seemed to have bottled them up. The distance forces the returner to muff the punt, with pressure from Tauren Poole. Howard Jones sees the ball on the ground and turns it on to get to it first.
- The Steelers could only convert the excellent field position into three points, however.
- Looks like a good special teams tackle from Jordan Dangerfield, who played a strong second half to keep his name in the rotation.
- Bryant will not be returning punts.
- Defensive tackle does a nice job of shedding Cody Wallace to bring the back down on the next play.
- Ugly running back screen on third and long, releasing too early before turning upfield.
- Poole gets down the field to force a fair catch. Special teams will be key for him.
- Brian Arnfelt finally gets in the game and gets blown off the ball on his first snap.
- Daniel McCullers shows his raw power by walking the center back into the pocket. Jordan Zumwalt cleans up after a rushed throw.
- I’ll say this for Dan Molls: he certainly made a lot of tackles.
- Miguel Maysonet showed a little wiggle in tight quarters to dive for the first down on a short pass. Came back two plays later to drop a pass.
- Jones’ throw down the sideline gave Derek Moye little chance to make a play on the ball.
- Dangerfield in on another special teams tackle.
- Isaiah Green with a good pass break up, even if he went on to allow several receptions.
- Nick Williams flashed some potential in his time on the field after basically a year off. I could see him battling for some second-team reps in time.
- Zumwalt looks like he has strong instincts, which is what we saw on his college tape. Good sign considering how much of the offseason he missed.
- Third-string linebackers conspire to score the Steelers’ only touchdown. Zumwalt blitz forces an early throw, Vic So’oto gets a hand on the backward pass, and Jones returns it for the score.
- McCullers often looks like he’s eating people when he makes a tackle. But he can also be controlled when double teamed.
- McCullers and Arnfelt, by the way, are the third-team nickel defensive line.
- The Giants take advantage of a corner blitz by hitting the back out in the flat for about a 20-yard gain. Dangerfield does a nice job on first- and second-and-goal, clogging the lane and then making the tackle.
- Green couldn’t do much on third down against a receiver half a foot taller than him. He tried to play the ball into the receiver’s hands but couldn’t pick his pocket.
- Third-string interior offensive line personnel in, but the defense is in prevent mode. Hard to evaluate much based on that.
- Moye should have had the late throw in his direction. Seemed he expected the defender to get a hand on the ball, and he got his own arms up late.
- The Steelers only converted third downs via penalty in this game.
- A bit of a hot pass from Jones, but Josh Harris needs to hang on to that pass. He had some room to run, but instead it set up third down.
- Bryant should have had the next pass as well, even though he had to reach for it. He got the next one, but then put it on the ground, ending the game. for all intents and purposes.
- Al Lapuaho mopped up at nose tackle in the last minute or so of the game. Shaquille Richardson in at cornerback too.
