Winners and losers from the Pittsburgh Steelers’ 19-10 win against the Carolina Panthers in Thursday night’s preseason finale.
WINNERS
DL Yahya Black
If there’s any silver lining to DL Derrick Harmon’s knee injury (which thankfully appear less severe than initially believed), it’s that Yahya Black looked strong in the second half. Granted, it came against the Panthers’ backups in a game where they sat literally one-third of the roster. But Black capped a strong summer with his first NFL sack and the absolute best sack celebration. After initially not receiving credit, Black was also given a sack on the next play, generating pressure and forcing a fumble that led to a Steelers takeaway.
Black also played strong run defense and showed a well-rounded game. Should Harmon miss time, Black’s role isn’t immediately clear. But he’s going to play a fair amount of snaps and looks more NFL-ready than a typical fifth-round pick.
QB Skylar Thompson
Like Black, Thompson capped an impressive summer of work. He threw a dime to WR Scotty Miller for 53 yards right before the end of the first half, stealing three points to tie the game at 10. He also threw a touchdown pass to Lance McCutcheon in the first half, the only time the Steelers reached the end zone Thursday night. Thompson continues to run the offense well even as the rest of the unit struggled to play mistake-free and often put the group behind the sticks.
Thompson’s done all he can to make a case to stick around on the Steelers’ roster. It remains to be seen if that’ll happen, the front office will determine if rookie QB Will Howard gets placed on IR to begin the season, but Thompson has gone from fourth-string afterthought to at least being in the conversation of making Pittsburgh’s initial 53.
WR Scotty Miller
All Scotty Miller’s done is make plays this preseason. If he hadn’t already, Miller stamped his spot on the 53-man roster, hauling in Thompson’s halftime heave to set up a field goal. Miller also reached back for a 16-yard catch and ended the game with three grabs for 82 yards. His speed, hands, and smarts all make him quarterback-friendly and he should latch on as a No. 5 receiver.
EDGE Jack Sawyer
A nice showing from the rookie. A first-half stunt pressured QB Jack Plummer and helped lead to an incompletion. His run defense was steady, and the fourth-round pick did a better job shedding blockers. He finished with five tackles, two of those for a loss and a quarterback hit. Sawyer’s shown impressive conditioning to play a heavy number of EDGE snaps and special teams. Once the regular season begins, his focus will be more on the latter, but Sawyer rounds out a talented Steelers pass-rush room.
RB Trey Sermon
It seems doubtful Sermon will make the 53-man roster but he likely cemented a practice squad spot with his 31-yard run tonight. An experienced veteran, he does a little of everything. There’s power as a runner, he can catch, is a multi-phase special teamer, and has been productive with a couple of preseason scores. Nothing about his game shouts out loud but he’s solid all around and can be called up when injuries strike.
Lew Nichols continued stacking good stadium performances and could join Sermon on the practice squad.
K Ben Sauls
Sauls had no path beating out Chris Boswell but finished his summer Steelers stint on a high note. Despite field conditions that didn’t seem great, Sauls made his field goals on a slick Panthers field. That included banging one from 50 yards, perfectly down the middle. He finished the game 4-of-4 on field goals.
He’ll wait for injuries to try to get back onto an NFL roster. That’s the same path Matthew Wright once took, still in the league and kicking on the other sideline for the Panthers tonight.
LOSERS
Offense & Defense’s Sloppy Play
Hope you had some alcohol handy tonight. The type of preseason game that drives you – and the coaching staff – to drink. Offensively, a slew of penalties and mental mistakes. Defensively, more missed tackles than you can count. Despite facing all of Carolina’s backups, the offense struggled to move the ball and recorded three penalties in the first three minutes. Tight end Pat Freiermuth was flagged, wiping out a 26-yard Kenneth Gainwell run.
The offensive line took far too many penalties. Center Ryan McCollum, playing in his only preseason game of the summer, was flagged three times, including on a 4th and 1 that forced Pittsburgh to settle for a field goal. Left tackle Dylan Cook picked up another. At one point, Pittsburgh faced a 3rd and 28.
Even with Jalen Ramsey, Darius Slay, and Joey Porter Jr., in the lineup, the secondary and rest of the defense struggled to tackle the Panthers’ third and fourth stringers. Ramsey was flagged for a personal foul after wrapping up and throwing down a Panthers runner.
Pittsburgh ended the game with 13 penalties for 104-yards. Mike Tomlin’s not going to be happy about any of it.
It was the type of preseason game you couldn’t wait to be over so everyone can go home and forget it ever happened.
QB Mason Rudolph
Rudolph’s strong camp ended with a whimper. He completed 6-of-8 passes but was oblivious to the underneath Panthers defender on his interception, picked after throwing over the middle for WR Ke’Shawn Williams. Rudolph may have also bailed on a couple of pockets and struggled to create anything beyond the structure of the play. He’s still the No. 2 quarterback and his resume runs much deeper than one preseason game, but this wasn’t a memorable outing.
WR Robert Woods
In a last chance for a roster spot, Woods was quiet. Flagged once for holding, he continued running behind Scotty Miller, Brandon Johnson, and it even appeared rookie Max Hurleman snagged snaps over him. Woods looks like a quick release during cutdowns after entering camp inside the roster bubble. It’s not like Pittsburgh is especially deep at receiver and Woods failing to stick is telling about his career.
IN THE MIDDLE
EDGE DeMarvin Leal
Creating a one-time category for Leal. His game was too interesting not to mention but I have no idea whether to put him on the winners or losers list. There was an equal share of both. He got pressure and created one incompletion while shedding an early block to stuff a run play. But he also lined up offsides on the Panthers’ first play from scrimmage, missed two sacks (including the play Derrick Harmon was injured on) and he looked like a bull in a China shop all game.
Leal’s a heck of an athlete but not as good a football player. He’s likely played his final downs in Pittsburgh.
