The offense was disappointing for the most part in the Pittsburgh Steelers’ second preseason game. Although they had flashes of good play, they couldn’t string together enough consistency to look efficient. It’s still only the preseason, so there’s no need to panic too much, but it is frustrating when the starting offense continues to look disjointed.
In a video on Twitter from Chris Adamski of the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review, tight end Connor Heyward spoke about how the team underperformed.
“Can’t play down to our competition,” Heyward said. “Buffalo won the game, but I think we beat ourselves a lot out there. Special teams was better than last time. Cam [Johnston] did a good job. We did a good job with the coverage, but the new kickoff and all those types, but we need to win on offense. Not just offense or defense, but all three.”
The Steelers had a rough outing on special teams in their first game, but their game against the Bills saw that aspect of their game greatly improve. Johnston had a fantastic night punting, and he was probably the most exciting part of most of the game. However, great punting doesn’t equal a good game.
The offense was pitiful at times, and the starting unit could not get anything going. Even a circus grab by George Pickens ended up being ruled an incompletion. It just didn’t seem to be the Steelers’ night, and Heyward is aware that their level of play against the Bills won’t be good enough in the regular season.
Luckily, there’s still one more preseason game left, so there’s time for the offense to find some rhythm. It’s unclear if the starters will actually get any work in that game, but it does allow them to take more time to work on fixing some of their mistakes.
The offense probably can’t get much worse than it has been over the past few years, but that doesn’t mean the Steelers should settle for anything below average. If the Steelers want to have any chance at finding success in the playoffs, they’ll need to get out of their own way. Cut down on the penalties, execute plays correctly, and communicate at a higher level. Playing down to their competition has cost the Steelers in the past, and they desperately need to break that habit.
