The Pittsburgh Steelers wrapped up their preseason a little over a week ago now, but they are carrying the buzz they produced through their three games into the regular season. At least they are hoping to do so, along with the success that caused it.
No first-team offense in football had a more successful preseason than did the Steelers’, though it would be impossible to do so. Taking the field for five series, they scored five touchdowns, including two short-field opportunities and three on very long drives of 80-plus yards. Former Steelers T Max Starks struggled to even find a word of criticism for anything he saw.
“To go five-for-five on drives in three different games against three different opponents and have the same result was just something that I was really surprised to see”, he said on SiriusXM Radio recently. “I was like, ‘Okay, when is it gonna sputter? When is it going to be challenging?’. And it never looked challenging”.
It’s true that they rarely faced adversity, at least once they took the field. Their first possession, a 10-play, 83-yarder, was set up by a punt downed at the 17. Their second possession started from the 14. Their opening drive of the third game started from the 8 following an illegal block penalty on the opening kickoff.
Yet QB Kenny Pickett and company overcame each scenario. He converted on third-and-10 on their first series with a connection to WR Diontae Johnson, and later threw WR George Pickens open for a 33-yard catch-and-run touchdown. RB Jaylen Warren’s 32-yard touchdown run was set up by a 10-yard conversion to WR Allen Robinson on third-and-7. And he let the ball go on third-and-5 in game three, finding Johnson down the field for a 33-yard play. They had a little bit of everything to offer, which is what impressed Starks the most.
“You needed a big-play catch. Boom, they got a big-play catch. George Pickens, the first game in Tampa Bay, catches a 33-yarder for a touchdown, splits between three defenders”, he said. “We need a big run. Boom, 62-yarder. Jaylen Warren goes against the starting Buffalo defense yard on the third play of the game”.
“You see all of these things. Pat Freiermuth takes one down the middle”, he continued, scrambling to look for anything to criticize. “It’s just, I don’t know where I could say, maybe the offensive line gelling, but this offense looks like it’s going to be good this season”.
Of course, if you based your assessment entirely upon the preseason results, you would have to conclude that the offense is going to look amazing. It’s such an incredibly small sample size and under conditions that don’t replicate the regular season, however, that evaluation is difficult.
What you can ascertain from how they performed during the preseason is that this offense has a lot of talent, and seems to be on the same page. Those are two key ingredients for any successful unit, but now it’s high time to prove themselves against a top-flight NFL defense like that of the San Francisco 49ers in the regular season opener.
