The preseason was the preseason. If the Pittsburgh Steelers lay an egg against the San Francisco 49ers this weekend, none of what Kenny Pickett and company did in August is going to matter. It’ll just be the same ‘ol Steelers.
Speaking to reporters Thursday, OC Matt Canada acknowledged the summer success his unit had. But in the same breath, understood all of that has gone out the window.
“You couldn’t script it better what happened,” he said as tweeted by The Trib’s Chris Adamski. “But as I’ve said multiple times, none of that really counts.”
Pittsburgh’s first-team offense was perfect in the preseason. Literally. The starters found the end zone on all five of their drives, doing so in varying ways. George Pickens had a 33-yard catch, Jaylen Warren a 62-yard run, Pat Freiermuth a long grab down the seam, Najee Harris and Warren with two goal line dives. Pickett finished the preseason with a perfect passer rating and threw only two incompletions on 15 attempts.
They were encouraging signs for an offense in desperate need of them. The Steelers have shown signs of getting past their extreme growing pains with young players, like Pickett, Pickens, and others, growing as they get more comfortable in the league.
Sunday’s matchup against the San Francisco 49ers will be a great measuring stick for where the Steelers’ offense truly is. No defense was better a year ago than San Fran’s unit, especially against the run, while it tied Pittsburgh for the league-lead with 20 interceptions.
Canada can’t predict what will happen, but he likes the vibe of the Steelers’ locker room.
“I think we’re coming into it with the right mindset,” he said. “We’re healthy right now. The guys are excited to play.”
Of course, the 49ers and the rest of the NFL are feeling the same way. As Mike Tyson said, everyone has a plan until they get punched in the mouth. Hopefully the Steelers are delivering more blows this weekend. If so, they’ll pull off another Week One upset.
