The Steelers invested a Brink's truck into their starting outside linebackers, and the lucrative extensions for T.J. Watt and Alex Highsmith were warranted, necessary, and worth the while of the Steelers' front office. Insurance policies for those investments, though, had to be purchased after last season's deficiencies from the rest of the room that caused the Steelers to drop in producing sacks and quarterback hits.
On a pristine Saturday evening at Acrisure Stadium, the insurance policies cashed in on what is normally a buttoned-up, fortified Bills offensive front. Nick Herbig and Markus Golden gave a glimpse of the potential that this room can reach in the Steelers' 27-15 win over the Bills in their second preseason game. It was not Watt and Highsmith that caused turmoil in Josh Allen and Matt Barkley's nights; it was the depth displayed within that outside linebackers room that brought the pressure -- and the pain -- to the Bills all evening.
Herbig and Golden were so dominant in their respective showings Saturday, Buffalo began to jump for them. Literally. A staggering 12 penalties for 90 yards were committed in the first half alone by the visitors. Four of those were whistled as false starts, including one on first-round tight end Dalton Kincaid and one on two-time Pro Bowler Dion Dawkins.
Note this, too. Herbig delivered an encore from his coming-out party from last week against Tampa Bay by batting down a Barkley pass on his first play, forcing one of those four false starts, showing his ability to play on Highsmith's side -- he usually substitutes in for Watt -- and, as the cherry on top, by ripping out the ball from Barkley's hands on a sack early in the third quarter.
— DK Pittsburgh Sports (@DKPSvideos) August 20, 2023
Herbig said after last week's win in Tampa Bay that he was born to be a Steeler. He is living that through his play in the opening two games of his career, and he acknowledged after this one that he has been working to live that through a former Defensive Player of the Year:
— DK Pittsburgh Sports (@DKPSvideos) August 20, 2023
"Me and T.J. were just talking about potential moves that I could work on that side," Herbig said after the game. "Me and him work at it every day, and he's telling me I keep setting up with my other rushes, so it's time to do something different that we worked every day. I went out there and tried it and listened to the best edge rusher in the league in T.J."
This is no fluke. This is no longer happening by chance. My defensive MVP from training camp is proving his merit that got him through a Wisconsin program that helped produce Watt to this same defense. In the 120 minutes of live football played this preseason, Herbig has been as advertised and more, with much more to build off of.
Danny Smith showing the rook some love after the big play @Budlight | #EasyToCelebrate pic.twitter.com/dnymMsW15b
— Pittsburgh Steelers (@steelers) August 20, 2023
• Where Herbig is a 21-year-old who is supposedly getting his professional feet underneath him, the man 12 years his senior proved there is still some left in the tank after accumulating 11.0 sacks two seasons ago. Golden gave the opposite end of the line a spark as he drew two false starts in the second quarter and had what can be deemed as his best night since the Steelers convened in Latrobe, Pa., for the start of training camp. It will show up as just two tackles in the box score, but Golden provided a massive boost while getting into a stance on the opposite side of Herbig.
"I think Markus looked good tonight," Watt said. "As an edge rusher in this defense, we can't play 100 percent of the snaps. So, to have the guys we can trust to make plays when we're not in there, when we're sitting on the sidelines getting gassed back up to go back in is huge for the defense. I like the way our room is shaping up."
• How dominant was the Steelers' defense against Allen, Diggs, and the Bills' first-team offense?
The Steelers held the Bills to 36 net yards gained on 15 plays, and the Bills punted three times in three possessions. Allen completed 7 of 10 passes for 64 yards, and starting running back James Cook was held to three yards on three carries.
• Welcome to the NFL, Joey Porter Jr. How about your first professional interception in your first professional football game?
Late in the first half, Porter played a physical Cover 2 technique, broke on the ball -- albeit, a really bad one from Barkley -- and hauled it in to set up the Steelers at the Bills 13-yard line after an unnecessary roughness penalty was tacked on. Porter ran into the Bills' end zone with a fleet of teammates to celebrate, and later found his dad, Joey Porter Sr., in the stands alongside the Steelers' sideline to gift him the ball.
Good stuff here from the kid:
— DK Pittsburgh Sports (@DKPSvideos) August 20, 2023
"I was talking to my coach right before I went out on that series, and he was talking about getting our hands on our receivers in Cover 2," Porter said. "He's like, 'Once you get your hands on him, push him out of bounds and look for the ball, because it's going to be there.' And exactly like that, it happened. ... It was perfect, especially the first one back at home. I've never played at Heinz Field before. It was great for me being out there with the guys, running around, and I got my first pick. It was perfect."
Porter entered the game in Buffalo's second offensive possession as a part of the meshing of first- and second-team members of the defense. At one point, he drew the assignment of second-team All-Pro receiver Stefon Diggs in a matchup of physical cornerback against physical receiver. Diggs hauled in a seven-yard reception with Porter covering him, but Porter was right there to make the tackle before Diggs could pick up any yards after the catch.
• On one hand, Dan Moore Jr. isn't relinquishing the starting left tackle job as easily as one might conventionally have thought once training camp commenced. On the other, Broderick Jones is going to have to show that he is also deserving of a starting left tackle position, and perhaps with some elevated play.
Plays like this will not help. This is Bills defensive end Kingsley Jonathan getting by Jones rather easily on a basic pass-rush move for a sack of Mason Rudolph in the third quarter:
— DK Pittsburgh Sports (@DKPSvideos) August 20, 2023
Earlier this week, Mike Tomlin said Jones still had a chance to take Moore over for that role, and Jones' performance over the course of Saturday's game and the preseason finale in Atlanta will determine that. Judging from Saturday's game, Moore's stock went up, Jones' went down, neither remained neutral. Jones has more work to do with his hand usage, and this play is an example of it.
Advantage: Moore.
• Kwon Alexander's stock continues to rise. He substituted in for Cole Holcomb for the Bills' second series and helped cap the drive by driving Allen out of the pocket, funneling him back towards the hashes, and allowing for Highsmith to record a tackle for a six-yard loss to end the first quarter.
• The Steelers' running back cohort has a clearer vision to it. It became evident from Jaylen Warren's explosive 62-yard touchdown run to cap off the Steelers' first drive, and it was doubled down upon from Anthony McFarland's performance in this game. McFarland was called for a game-high nine carries and gained just two yards off of them. Warren and McFarland have had strong months since convening in Latrobe, but McFarland regressed slightly as a runner in this game and will benefit as the team's primary receiving back and third-down back going forward. Warren showed more promise and took a massive step in becoming the primary backup to Najee Harris. Meanwhile, Harris has not had a heavy workload this preseason -- as nearly expected -- but will continue to command lead-back duties.
• Elijah Riley intercepted a tip-drill from Holcomb in the Steelers' end zone in the second quarter to continue his productive training camp and make a stronger case to keep him on the 53-man roster. Granted, it came against the Bills' second team, but the former undrafted free agent out of Army needed to make a play like that if he has a shot at making the cut.
"Right place, right time," Riley said. "Tips and overthrows. An opportunity to get the ball out, so right place, right time, and I took advantage of the opportunity. ... I want to be somebody that the team can rely on no matter where I'm put on the field. Special teams, defense. Wherever they put me I want to be a difference maker."
• Darnell Washington did something that is rarely seen.
That is an evergreen statement from watching the rookie tight end in practice, but his frame became a factor in helping set up a three-yard touchdown pass from Mitch Trubisky to Connor Heyward at the end of the first half.
Washington drew two defensive pass interference calls in the endzone in a span of four plays, setting the Steelers up with two separate first-and-goal situations from the 1-yard line. The first came on an out route as the Steelers were looking at a second-and-4 from the Bills' 7, as linebacker A.J. Klein was late to recover and was flagged for interfering with Washington as Trubisky looked his way. Three plays later, Trubisky looked for Washington on a corner fade route to the near side, and cornerback Kaiir Elam got too handsy and was whistled for interference, giving the Steelers another first-and-goal from the 1. McFarland failed to punch two runs in before Trubisky connected with Heyward for the score.
• Kendrick Green was ... not good ... and Tomlin appeared to put him on notice by describing his performance as "not good enough," adding, "Routine things routinely is what we expect, and it doesn’t get any more fundamental than C/Q exchanges.” The Steelers have woken up from the early-camp dream of him being used as a fullback, and he did not touch the ball in that role Saturday. He was called for a holding penalty that drove the offense back into a first-and-20 situation, his snapping and blocking in a general sense looked sloppy, and the worst of the worse was his snap past Mason Rudolph that the Bills recovered inside of the Steelers' 10-yard line. The Steelers still have a backup center problem, and Spencer Anderson didn't get his chance to prove his worth at the position as he stuck around at right tackle throughout the evening. Green is not the solution.
