Behind the Steel Curtain
The Steelers suffered their first (preseason) loss of the season on Saturday, falling at home to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers 17-14. As always, there are plenty of takeaways to be had.
If you listen to Steelers Twitter, rookies Derrick Harmon and Kaleb Johnson disappointed in their NFL debuts last week against the Jacksonville Jaguars. I wouldn’t say that’s true in either case, but it’s fair to say that neither looked spectacular a week ago.
However, both provided some highlight-worthy moments in preseason Week 2.
After being kept off the stat sheet against Jacksonville, Harmon recorded a sack and a tackle for loss against Tampa Bay. On the sack, he unleashed a devastating bull rush that forklifted a poor Buccaneers guard right back into the quarterback.
Harmon drew Cam Heyward comparisons coming out of college, and that rep gave some weight to the hype.
Still, a missed tackle later in the game while defending the run — another common takeaway from Harmon’s college tape — shows that the rookie still has some things to work on.
As for Johnson, he got off to a slow start but built momentum in the third quarter, ending regulation with 11 carries for 50 yards (4.5 average). That’s a notable improvement after last week’s eight/20/2.5.
He showed off some power with another strong stiff arm, and repeatedly had the burst to turn the corner and get to the second level of the defense. He’ll never be a speedster and will need to become more comfortable running between the tackles when he goes up against starting-caliber defenses, but Saturday was still a major step in the right direction.
Kaleb Johnson looked just fine. In short, two (preseason) games into his NFL career, can we just stop being weird?
After the game, Steelers head coach Mike Tomlin also seemed appreciative of Harmon and Johnson’s efforts. “Second time stepping into a stadium, you see more of their talents,” he said of the team’s first- and third-round picks this year.
Tomlin repeatedly emphasized that he expects more of the young players’ talent to show as they become more acclimated to playing in the NFL. I’d recommend taking a similar approach.
With one preseason game yet to go, this might seem a little premature. But can anyone really see Scotty Miller not making the final roster at this point?
Miller hauled in both of his targets for 38 yards on Saturday, running with the Steelers’ “first team” over veteran Robert Woods. After a four-catch, 47-yard performance last week and plenty of glowing training camp reports, the veteran receiver seems to have established himself as one of the top five names at his position on the roster.
Miller’s speed has stood out in a big way this preseason, and he’s developed a strong rapport with Aaron Rodgers over the offseason (the two have connected plenty in camp, and Miller was part of Rodgers’ Malibu workout crew).
After putting...
