Mike's Beer Bar War Room: Hard to find flaws in dominant preseason

It's difficult to imagine a better-played preseason for the Steelers. It wasn't just because they went 3-0, and won each game in convincing fashion. It was the collective performance in all three phases of the game that's put the Steelers on the radar in the loaded AFC.

Collectively, the Steelers defeated Tampa Bay, Buffalo and Atlanta by a combined score of 78-32. If we just narrow down the scoring differential to the first half of those games, that combined score favors the Steelers, 62-7. The Bills and Buccaneers combined to score 25 points in the fourth quarter. Obviously, this is exactly what you want to see, as the fourth quarter of preseason games is littered with players that will not stick in the NFL. 

Buffalo played their top unit a fair amount. Josh Allen played 16 snaps in that game and, of course, the Bills were not going to put their superstar quarterback on the field with backup offensive linemen and skill position players. Buffalo’s top unit also played nearly one third of the 66 defensive snaps against the Steelers. And the Bills are a Super Bowl contender. They’ve won 37 regular season games and four playoff contests over the past three seasons. 

However, while Baker Mayfield, who has since been named the starting quarterback, was on the field for 25 of a possible 73 snaps against the Steelers, Tampa Bay didn’t see the need to surround him with their best offensive players. The Bucs and Falcons, for that matter, sat all of their best players. Not to rain on the Steelers' preseason parade, but to be as impartial as possible, the players the Steelers played against in Week 1 and Week 3 of the preseason simply could not have been worse. 

This isn’t an exaggeration. Rarely do you see such a shortage of talent on an NFL football field as what the Buccaneers and Falcons decided to trot out. That being said, the Steelers obviously dominated the heck out of everyone they faced this preseason, including Buffalo. 

Let’s take some time to really dig into how Mike Tomlin decided to allocate playing time this preseason, starting with ...

THE OFFENSE

The Steelers offense played a total of 197 snaps over these three games. Broderick Jones led the way playing 141 snaps. That is very much by design, folks. When the Steelers traded up in the first round to select Jones, they knew he was an immense talent that needed a lot of work on the finer points of playing left tackle. 

He got that work:         

While the majority of Jones’ work in the preseason was extremely impressive and his potential is sky high, here is one example of a bad habit Jones displayed in college and is working to correct. He will still dip his head at times in pass protection, losing vision of his opponent. That is correctable. 

Other offensive linemen that played a high number of snaps include Kendrick Green (131), Spencer Anderson (109), Ryan McCollum (106), Dylan Cook (101), William Dunkle (94) and Le’Raven Clark (89). Backup offensive linemen generally get a lot of run in the preseason. The NFL has a shortage of quality offensive linemen and developing young players up front is also a priority, whether it is to fill out the back of the opening day roster or for practice squad/development purposes. So, this shouldn’t come as a huge surprise. 

The Steelers flirted with using Green as a bigger version of Connor Heyward -- a very intriguing experiment -- as a huge move fullback. But, if Green can’t prove to have enough value as an interior offensive lineman, he just can’t be part of the equation. The Steelers should have enough data with those 131 snaps to make that decision. 

Only Jones and Green played more offensive snaps than Gunner Olszewski. Why? Because while Olszewski has some special teams value (maybe less than you might think though), the Steelers needed to find out if he can help the offense enough on game days during the regular season. 

Dez Fitzpatrick was on the field for 76 plays, the 10th most of all the offensive players. This was mostly because Fitzpatrick continued to impress more and more with increased opportunities. He also has special teams value.

Zach Gentry (87) slightly out-snapped Darnell Washington (72) as king-sized inline blocking tight ends. But is not apparent that the Steelers currently like the veteran more than Washington. Actually, this seems like a pretty direct competition for playing time. 

Tomlin spread the quarterback playing time as follows: Mason Rudolph (69), Mitch Trubisky (67), Tanner Morgan (33), and Kenny Pickett (28). If the coaching staff thought Pickett needed more work, he would have got it. Therefore, this is exactly what Steelers fans should want to see at the most important position in sports. 

Some other notables on this side of the ball are Calvin Austin III (67), Rodney Williams (62), Cody White (61), Miles Boykin (61) and Anthony McFarland (60). Each of these skill position players had high moments and impressed, though White was released over the weekend via injury settlement.

Austin is terrifying and shows what a weapon he could be as a punt returner:

Of course, Austin didn’t stop there this preseason and should provide a real threat as a perimeter receiver, out of the slot and as a jet motion player. Austin has game-changing traits. 

THE DEFENSE

This side of the ball was on the field for a total of 192 plays, and James Pierre led Steelers defenders in playing time by a wide margin, seeing 115 snaps. This indicates that there are questions about Pierre and his ability to help the defense in the regular season. But, obviously the coaching staff got a real good look at Pierre, who is also a core special teams player.

The only other defenders to see the field for more than 77 snaps were David Perales (100), Kenny Robinson (97), Mark Robinson (93) and Tanner Muse (92). Muse was brought in for his special teams prowess, but the staff needed to see how much he could contribute on defense. The other three are young players with some obvious talent that the team really wanted to develop. Remember, snaps are earned and are not just handed out willy nilly. 

Isaiahh Loudermilk’s career is at crossroads after a few lackluster seasons with the team. Tomlin must agree, as Loudermilk paced the big men on this side of the ball. He was out there for 69 snaps. Armon Watts, another defensive lineman with plenty to prove, was second playing 62 snaps. 

Cam Heyward and T.J. Watt combined to play only 21 preseason snaps ... for obvious reasons. 

As for the Steelers' drafted rookies on this side of the ball, Nick Herbig (63) led the way in extremely impressive fashion. Next up was Joey Porter Jr. (53) followed by Keeanu Benton (48), even though each player only played in two games apiece.

This is a move that Watt is making famous, but not something you see from pass rushers coming into the league. Herbig is showing great attention to detail with his pass-rush moves, as well as his pass-rush plan. His get off is superb, as is his hand usage and determination. There wasn’t a more fun Steelers player to watch this preseason than Herbig. 

SPECIAL TEAMS

A lot can be taken away from special teams snaps in the preseason. If you have ever been to an NFL practice, you will quickly see that the special teams work being done in practice doesn’t emulate what actually happens in games. You simply cannot simulate kickoff, kickoff return, punt and punt return all that well in a practice environment if you want to keep the roster healthy. Snaps in games are crucial for proper evaluation. 

Last year, Derek Watt (289 snaps), Miles Killebrew (289), Connor Heyward (283), Benny Snell (283), Jamir Jones (250), Marcus Allen (229), Boykin (206) and Pierre (196) were the core guys for Danny Smith. Obviously, there is a ton of opportunity for different players to assume this role for 2023. And you know what? The Steelers auditioned accordingly. 

This year in the preseason, Kenny Robinson (34) led the way in this phase of the game. Next up was Williams (32), Muse (31), Robinson (29), Fitzpatrick (27), Toby Ndukwe (25), Herbig (24), Trenton Thompson (24), Elijah Riley (22), Nick Kwiatkowski (21), Perales (20) and Chandon Sullivan (19). While this isn’t anywhere near the sample size for the offense or defense, the allocation of these special teams opportunities are very important and telling. It isn’t much for Smith to go off, but is much more substantial than you might think. 

FINAL THOUGHTS

This was an extremely promising and exciting preseason for the Steelers in all three phases. 

They dismantled their opponents. The stars shined. They have a quarterback. The team stayed healthy. The young guys, particularly the latest draft class, showed great promise. The offensive scheme looks vastly improved and diversified. There was much to take away from what happened on the field against Tampa Bay, Buffalo and Atlanta, even if two of those opponents were rather pathetic. 

The Steelers might just be a contender. Bring on the 49ers. 

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