Five drives. 25 plays. Five touchdowns. 315 yards. 12.6 yards per play. Five explosive plays. Three explosive touchdowns.
Don’t mind me. I’m just jotting down some of the highlights from the Pittsburgh Steelers’ first-team offense during the preseason. Yes, they faced a handful of third-down situations, but they finished in the end zone every time. it could hardly have gone better.
“It’s proof that all the work that we put in paid off and we had a good preseason”, QB Kenny Pickett told reporters following last night’s 24-0 win over the Atlanta Falcons, via the team’s website, which featured another two touchdowns for his unit. “But obviously now it counts, so now we’ve got to get our attention to San Fran and focus on those guys and start getting into some game prep stuff”.
Oh yeah, and there’s the key point. The preseason was great, but it’s all been a prelude. Now it’s about the San Francisco 49ers, who play the Los Angeles Chargers tonight, and who will also be playing their starters.
Remarkably, it really seems as though nearly everything we have heard about the offense this offseason has come to fruition so far, at least in the preseason. There is the improved blocking of the offensive line. There are the explosive plays. There is the improved play-calling and decision-making. The ball placement. The list can go on and on. It was really quite good.
Now you just have to keep doing it through February, of course. After all, that is what all of this effort was about. You don’t go through minicamp to win training camp. You don’t give maximum effort in training camp to win preseason games. And you certainly don’t win preseason games simply for its own sake.
You do it to get ready for the real thing, which is coming up in a little over two weeks. The Steelers may not have game-planned extensively for the Atlanta Falcons, but they are going to have to as they prepare to host the 49ers.
It will be a tough test right out of the gate, one that should prove telling about how good this offense really is. C Mason Cole is going to have his hands full with Javon Hargrave and Arik Armstead, for example. RBs Najee Harris and Jaylen Warren will have to contend with Fred Warner. And Pickett will have to worry about S tandem Tashaun Gipson and Talanoa Hufanga.
It’s all good feelings right now, and how could it not be with all the success that they’ve had? This offense made a bunch of great plays over the course of the past few weeks, regardless of circumstance. But they will be facing better defenses moving forward who will have devoted their time to studying how the Steelers want to attack them. The dress rehearsal is over. The curtain is rising. They’ve shown they can act. Now they have to show they can perform.
