Winners and losers from the Pittsburgh Steelers 24-0 win over the Atlanta Falcons in Thursday night’s preseason finale.
Winners
First-Team Offense – Again. You couldn’t script a preseason better than this for the first-string guys. Five possessions, five touchdowns. Yes, today’s two scores came against the Falcons’ backups but Pittsburgh took care business against everyone this summer, starters and second string.
This time, Pittsburgh mixed in big plays with finishing drives. There were long completions from Kenny Pickett to Diontae Johnson and George Pickens. But they also got to work low red zone with rushing scores from RBs Najee Harris and Jaylen Warren, which was good to get to rep and execute.
Eventually, the Steelers’ first-team group will punt. But they’ve shown growth and are a different unit than a year ago. It’s a great sign heading into a tough Week One contest against the San Francisco 49ers.
RB Anthony McFarland Jr. – Things got off to a bumpy start as McFarland took a kick 8 yards deep that the return team wasn’t expecting. But with limited chances, it’s hard to fault his mindset, even if Pittsburgh began the drive at the 8-yard line following a Mark Robinson penalty.
But as a runner, McFarland impressed. He bounced a run outside and took off for 31 yards early in the game and ran tough on his score, cutting back and plowing ahead on his way into the end zone. It’s still hard to evaluate him as a return man but he’s done basically all he can to make the 53.
LB Elandon Roberts – Roberts is a tone setter that has been missing from the middle of the Steelers defense ever since Vince Williams retired. He’s an impactful hitter and energy-bringer. He took over one Falcons drive with a sack and tackle on back-to-back plays. Kwon Alexander looked good too, and the Steelers inside linebacker room looks in much better shape than a season ago.
LB Nick Herbig – Might as well just stamp his name into each of these articles. Another splash play tonight, beating Falcons RT Jalen Mayfield, who hardly touched him, to the inside for a sack. Herbig finishes the summer with 3.5 sacks in three games. Hopefully he can keep his streak going come Week One. Pittsburgh’s EDGE depth looks excellent. A nice night for veteran Markus Golden, too.
LB Quincy Roche – We’ll see if it’s too little, too late, but a nice rush by Roche to beat the Falcons’ backup left tackle around the edge and force the fumble on QB Logan Woodside, which was recovered by fellow OLB Toby Ndukwe. In a battle with Ndukwe and David Perales, that’ll help his case.
P Pressley Harvin III – Partially including him to make up for omitting him from last week’s list. He should’ve been on there. The most impressive part about Harvin’s summer has been his work pinning opposing offenses deep. In practice and in-game, he’s showed hangtime and distance while avoiding touchbacks. All six of his punts this summer landed inside the 20. He easily beat out Braden Mann (who did fine tonight, to his credit) to keep his starting gig.
Losers
CB James Pierre – Like the first two games, it’s hard to find many losers on this list. Pierre wasn’t terrible but it’s just frustrating to watch him. Trying to punch the ball out as the first tackler to the ball instead of wrapping up (second tacklers ball search), being late to close, not immediately touching players when they go to the ground, having trouble finding the ball. He’s always had talent. It just hasn’t come together and I don’t think it ever will. He should still make the team as the fourth corner and starting gunner, but I would not be floored if he was cut Tuesday. Or initially kept with the team replacing him with someone else ahead of Week One.
RB Darius Hagans – Really nitpicking here but Hagans could’ve picked moved the sticks on second down but couldn’t get his arm extended as he ran out of bounds. On third and one, he was stuffed, forcing the team to go for it (and convert) on fourth down with a Mason Rudolph quarterback sneak. Hagans played behind Greg Bell and Xazavian Valladay and has lost ground all summer.
Falcons Broadcast – I watched the local/KDKA version but from everything I heard about the Atlanta side, it wasn’t very good. We’ll end on a peak preseason note and talk about the opposing team’s regional broadcasters. They have their quirky charms.
