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If we omit some of the over-analysis and hyper-excitement assigned to Steelers preseason games There are some basic tasks for specific players and overall position groups: Build on positive momentum where it exists and correct previous shortcomings with limited options about the Dallas Cowboys last Thursday, there was a lot more good than bad in defense. Especially the deep pass rushers and secondary players.
Let’s see what has gotten better, what has gotten worse and where things have mostly stayed the same.
• The quarterbacks: In the first half the quarterbacks were similar like last week. Efficient numbers but not much lightning and limited scores.
Again, like last week, Mason Rudolph hit a big pass – a 33-yarder on Diontae Johnson. Again, like last week, he didn’t lead a touchdown drive.
Rudolph and second string Dwayne Haskins combined again for numbers in the first half that probably looked a little better than they felt, with the two passers-by 14 for 16 went for 120 yards.
No ball losses, like Rudolph’s fumble against Dallas. And Haskins led a touchdown drive in the first half.
It started in the second half. Haskins led two scoring marches and did a good job taking advantage of an offside Eagles shot to get a shot into the end zone, hitting Anthony Johnson for the team’s second score of the evening.
Haskins landed 16 -v-22 for 161 yards and a rating of 108.3. His numbers would have been even better, apart from a decline from Zach Gentry in the third quarter and another decline from Tony Brooks-James in the fourth quarter.
« I really thought he was in charge tonight. He succeeded in communicating with people very well. Make progress, « said coach Mike Tomlin.
Josh Dobbs threw an interception, but completed his other five passes for 30 yards.
If you subtract minus-8 yards on quarterback runs and vice versa, the yardage lost, the run game averaged 4.32 yards with 37 carries.
Also, Najee Harris had an 8-yard carry in the first half that was negated by a trai turner hold.
Barely the days of Franco and Rocky or Shadow of the Bus. But better than last week’s average at 2.5 yards per carry.
That was one of the reasons the Steelers held 40:18 instead of 30:29 last week.
• Diontae Johnson: Chase Claypool had a big catch in Canton. It was Johnson who caught a 33-yarder from Rudolph in Philadelphia.
Most importantly, he caught all three of his targets at 41 yards. No drops. That’s a significant improvement over last year.
• First half defense: The first team players who played scored 16 points and 265 yards in the first half.
The Eagles’ first two passes were complete to tight ends with Zach Ertz for 7 yards and Dallas Goedert for 34 yards. Steeler’s linebacker Devin Bush seemed to lose coverage of Goedert’s catch.
Cam Sutton was hit for Quez Watkins in what would have been a 98 yard bomb. But quarterback Jalen Hurts was too strong with the throw.
Then Watkins burned almost the entire defense in a 79-yard catch-and-run towards the end of the first quarter.
In the second half, the defense was but better because the Eagles couldn’t get a first down. Meanwhile, the Steelers made 19.
• Penalties: A total of five penalties for 36 yards in the second game of the preseason is not bad. But Tomlin’s team only had three last week.
« They were self-inflicted wounds. Run game holding calls are killing drives, ”said Tomlin. “We had calls on hold on our first two trips.
“ Penalties were part of our problems from an early age. … We know that and we have to get better. ”
• Precise poking: If the offensive line doesn’t improve, poking will be more important than Steelers fans would like to imagine.
After Pressley put Harvin III on a show with three punts within the 12-yard line last week, Jordan Berry stabbed two punts within the 10-yard line. His third went over 45 yards. His fourth was a 54-yarder of his own 27 when the Steelers fell 13-0.
Harvin III is believed to get the job, but Berry will swing.
• Jamir Jones: Him didn’t register a sack against the cowboys, but it was a constant problem for the cowboys’ backup linemen.
The same could be said for the Philadelphia fight. Jones sacked Joe Flacco once in the first half and added another quarterback hit on Nick Mullens before Justin Layne was intercepted.
Tim Benz is a contributor to Tribune Review. You can contact Tim at [email protected] or on Twitter. All tweets could be reposted. All emails are subject to publication unless otherwise noted.
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