The Pittsburgh Steelers’ preseason performance against the Buffalo Bills was so dismal that Mike Tomlin had to highlight the punting. Outside of the likes of Nick Herbig, that was about the only positive aspect of the game he could muster. Right from the start of his postgame press conference, he made it clear that they gave an unacceptable performance.
“Still not what we’re looking for”, Tomlin said, via the Steelers’ website. “It was better in some areas, but still JV in too many others. An area of improvement, I thought, was net punting. The field position component of play got flipped this time around. We were much better in this game than we were in the last one”.
Tomlin uses the term “JV’, or “junior varsity”, to refer to performances that don’t rise to the expected quality level. Junior varsity is below the varsity level, which is what the NFL is supposed to represent. And the Steelers got very little “varsity” play during their 9-3 loss to the Bills.
Between the three phases, you could argue that the special teams was the best, though even that isn’t assured. It was primarily the punt-coverage unit that saw the most success, largely due to the Steelers’ new punter. That would be Cameron Johnston, a grizzled old veteran of an Aussie leg whom they paid up for.
The Steelers signed Johnston to a three-year, $9 million contract this offseason, making him among the highest-paid punters. Fortunately for the Steelers, being one of the highest-paid punters remains a pretty low bar to clear.
Thus far, it looks like the Steelers will get their money’s worth out of Johnston, who boomed some punts Saturday night. All told, he punted five times against the Bills, averaging 56.8 yards. The Bills averaged 12.6 yards per return, however, meaning the Steelers netted 44.2 yards. That’s still a respectable figure, though, make no mistake—especially by the Steelers’ recent standards.
But the Steelers need to improve a lot more than just their punting after years of Pressley Harvin III. The offense is not looking like a championship-caliber unit by any stretch of the imagination. The offensive line is struggling, even with all the talent infused into it.
“Still not winning enough possession downs on the offense, particularly early, in an effort to establish rhythm and gain plays and develop personality and so forth”, Tomlin said, going into some of the Steelers’ “JV” performances. “When you’re not winning possession downs in the early portions of the game, all of those things really get stymied”.
Tomlin reserved special mention for the poor pass protection the Steelers afforded their quarterbacks. Russell Wilson took three sacks, for example, on just 13 drop backs. While Justin Fields only took one sack on 23 drop backs, he frequently had to evade pressure.
And the defense doesn’t completely get off the hook, either. The run defense in particular lacked the desired polish, beginning with the starters and all the way to the end. In all, the Steelers allowed the Bills to rush for 167 yards at nearly five yards per clip. This despite not allowing an explosive run.
