Steelers Now
The Pittsburgh Steelers spent the last three weeks of their 2023 season in a mad dash to make the 2023 NFL playoffs. Now they’re here, and their reward is one of the best and hottest teams in the league in the Buffalo Bills.
While the Steelers won their last three games to get in, Buffalo finished the season with five straight victories, including beating the Kansas City Chiefs, Dallas Cowboys and Miami Dolphins. Since firing offensive coordinator Ken Dorsey in mid-November, the Bills have lost just once — an overtime loss on the road against the Philadelphia Eagles.
Gameday: Pittsburgh Steelers at Jacksonville Jaguars, 7 p.m.
The Steelers are already dealing with some significant injury issues entering the first week of the preseason, with wide receiver Calvin Austin III and outside linebacker Alex Highsmith among the projected significant contributors that will not be suiting up in Jacksonville.
The number one goal of any preseason game is to get out of the building without anyone getting hurt, but with so many regulars being held out in addition to the ones that are already banged up, it’s crucial to survive the attrition process first and foremost.
The one Steelers unit that will be playing mostly intact is the offensive line, where only Isaac Seumalo will be sitting out Saturday night.
That’s a unit the Steelers have a lot riding on, with first-round picks Broderick Jones and Troy Fautanu owning zero and one career starts at their present positions. The Jaguars are expected to play their starters, meaning Jones and Fautanu will get strong tests against Josh Hines-Allen and Trevon Walker.
In a game where meaning might be fleeting, a solid performance from the two young Pittsburgh tackles could go a long way.
The Steelers will not play starting quarterback Aaron Rodgers. Backup Mason Rudolph will probably play about a quarter. Rookie Will Howard is out with a broken finger. The rest of the game will feature fourth-stringer Skylar Thompson and just-signed Logan Woodside.
They will also not play starting running back Jaylen Warren. They’re going to want to run the ball a ton, and while there is depth behind Johnson in the form of Trey Sermon, Evan Hull and Lew Nichols, there’s really no reason not to let Johnson get a long look on Saturday, and with a bunch of down-the-line quarterbacks playing, it should be a lot of handoffs.
There aren’t player props for preseason games, but I’d take the Johnson over if there was one.
Jaguars 20, Steelers 17
🏈 Steelers +45
🏈 Under 37.5
🏈 Both teams to score, first quarter: No (-220)
Season: 0-0
This article originally appeared on Steelers Now: Saunders’ Pregame Primer: Keys to Victory, Bold Prediction, Matchup to Watch for Steelers-Jaguars
