The Pittsburgh Steelers will close out their 2023 preseason slate on Thursday night with a road contest against the Atlanta Falcons and that contest should be an interesting one to watch with several 53-man roster spots still likely up for grabs.
In this preview post for the Thursday night affair, I wanted to pass along five intriguing, specific things that Steelers’ fans should look for Thursday night during the Steelers road game in Atlanta against the Falcons. Feel free to add additional things you will be looking for in the comments below.
Can Kenny See Red Once? – While the Steelers’ starting offense has only logged 17 total plays so far in the preseason, the unit has looked just fine in those three series. All three drives culminated with touchdowns and if that weren’t enough, all three scores were explosive plays, something we didn’t see much of last season.
Because of those fabulous long touchdowns, the Steelers offense hasn’t received any red zone work so far during the preseason. Sure, the unit works on Seven Shots during training camp, but it would be nice to see quarterback Kenny Pickett work on a short field once during the preseason. Assuming the starting unit plays Thursday night, it would be great to see a drive that gets down into the red zone and then see if another touchdown can be achieved. The starting group might only play one series Thursday night, however, so that red zone trip would likely need to happen on that lone drive. It’s not a huge thing, overall, but it would be one more preseason box for the Steelers offense to check just the same.
Porter Pushing – Steelers rookie CB Joey Porter Jr. made his preseason debut in the team’s second exhibition game last Saturday night and he had a good showing in the 24 total snaps that he played. Heck, he even registered an interception in that contest to go along with one tackle and a pass defense. Porter probably would have played more in that contest if it were not for him coming off a minor injury as Steelers head coach Mike Tomlin said as much after the game.
With it being evident that the Steelers would like to get Porter involved in the defense right out of the chute in 2023, getting him as many snaps as possible on Thursday night against the Falcons would be advisable. He might even start against the Falcons if the team decides to hold veteran CB Patrick Peterson out of the game. While Porter surely won’t be asked to play the entire Thursday night game, at least I don’t think he will, he might be asked to play into the third quarter if he indeed starts. A solid showing from Porter Thursday night will build his confidence even more and the same goes for the coaching staff.
Backed Up Booting – After his solid punting performance in the second preseason game against the Buffalo Bills, incumbent P Pressley Harvin III looks to be well on his way to retaining his job. However, Harvin’s solid outing last Saturday night included all five of his punts coming at around midfield or on the Bills side of the field.
Because of that, it would be nice to see Harvin have to punt out of his own end zone at least once Thursday night. Harvin has been inconsistent throughout his short NFL career and especially when punting out of the team’s own end zone. The Steelers could rotate both Harvin and Braden Mann Thursday night as this is the team’s final preseason game. Even if that happens, I would prepare for Harvin to be the one punting if the Steelers are backed up deep in their own end of the field.
Nate Needs To Find His Center – Will Nate Herbig really be the Steelers backup center in 2023? It surely sounds like that will indeed be the case. In the preseason opener, Herbig played nine total offensive snaps at center, a position he doesn’t have a lot of NFL experience at so far.
Unfortunately, Herbig missed the second preseason game with a shoulder injury and now we look ahead and hope he will play in the road finale Thursday night against the Falcons. Assuming Herbig does play Thursday night, look for him to get more snaps at center during this contest and potentially after he plays a little at guard.
Other than Herbig, the Steelers really don’t have a backup center, unless the team is willing to roll with Kendrick Green, who really hasn’t had a great preseason after being inactive for every game in 2022.
McMore McFarland McReturner – It’s been a great offseason for backup running back Anthony McFarland Jr. Sure, he really hasn’t had any other running back push him for the third spot throughout the offseason, but that said, he’s still been above-the-line.
The biggest question when it comes to McFarland is his ability to offer any value on special teams. The kick returner role could check that box and it sure seems like he is in play for it as the preseason comes to an end. Even so, he’s only managed to return one kickoff in the first two preseason games for 19 yards.
If McFarland gets another opportunity to return kickoffs Thursday night in Atlanta, that would be great see. Even greater would be him breaking one past midfield. If he does that, he might be able to sleep a little easier while final 53-man roster decisions are made into the start of next week.
