The Pittsburgh Steelers are have now gone two preseasons in a row undefeated. But, it’s preseason. It doesn’t count. All an undefeated preseason got Pittsburgh last season was a 2-6 start. However, to simply compare this years preseason and last years preseason by the records would be foolish, and today RB Najee Harris acknowledged the big difference in this years preseason to last years.
“Last year, we won all three preseason games and we came out the way we are. But it’s just how we won those three preseason games last year was completely different than how we won it this year,” said Harris in an interview posted to Steelers.com. “We scored a lot more points this year. We’re more efficient this year. We scored on the first two drives, I think, of all three games this year. You see it meshing a lot well.”
The Steelers’ first team offense was electric this summer, scoring touchdowns on each of their fives drives and the final score of each preseason game being a blowout. Last preseason, only one game was decided by more than one score with a lot of the clutch plays coming by players who were not starters come Week One. This year, as Harris acknowledged, it is totally different with QB Kenny Pickett and the other talented offensive players blitzing teams right out of the gate.
Still, Harris tempered the hype saying it is only preseason. The regular season is a new chapter.
“I even told myself and just the running backs, and a couple other guys, Coach T [Tomlin] and Coach Faulk [Faulkner], I was thinking like, this all looks good right now in preseason,” said Harris. “The offense has looked really good. It’s the best it’s looked since I’ve been here. But I think this is now where we gotta really focus in and worry about the regular season…really just staying focused and not buying the fool’s gold, really.”
The Steelers objectively looked great this preseason, much better than last year, but it is still preseason. Teams are not game planning for each other and concepts on both sides of the ball are very vanilla. Preseason is mostly the time for players to knock off rust and for teams to evaluate players. Even though the Steelers are receiving tons of praise for their performance, Harris knows it only means so much. Look at the infamous 0-16 Cleveland Browns, going went 4-0 in the 2017 preseason before proceeding to go 0-16 in the regular season.
Now, that most likely won’t be the case for the 2023 Steelers; the team was trending upwards towards the end of last season and only improved in the offseason. But, the point is preseason doesn’t really matter. The team can’t buy into the hype and has to prove it on the field when it matters, starting Week One against the San Francisco 49ers.
With the additions in the offseason and the improvement observed from Pickett and company, it’s likely that this preseason performance isn’t fool’s gold. Hopefully, it’s a sign of great things to come. Context matters, yes it is preseason but the Steelers first team also dominated the Buffalo Bills first-team in preseason this year. Last year, the Steelers’ first-stringers struggled against the Jacksonville Jaguars first stringers.
There is rightfully a lot of hype around the Steelers right now, but the players have to tune it out. Forget about the team being 3-0 in the preseason. After today’s games, everyone is 0-0 and the summer performances will become an afterthought.
