Behind the Steel Curtain
The Pittsburgh Steelers begin the 2025 preseason with a win over the Jacksonville Jaguars in what was one of the more entertaining preseason games in recent memory, and featured several training camp standouts showing what they could do in live-game action.
The Steelers set the tone for the first half right away, as rookie linebacker Carson Bruener put a big hit on Austin Tremmell on the opening kickoff. Payton Wilson suplexed wide receiver Dyami Brown on a fourth-down play, and Juan Thornhill separated Brian Thomas Jr. from a pass with a big hit over the middle. Pittsburgh held Jacksonville to a field goal on the opening drive, which brought out the offense.
There are several Steelers’ skill position players battling for respective roster spots, but few had more to prove entering Saturday than former third-round pick Roman Wilson. He had his number called on the Steelers’ first offensive play, catching a pass from Mason Rudolph for 19 yards over the middle off play action. Rudolph followed that up with a nice completion to Scotty Miller for 15 yards later on in the drive, and capped it off with a 19-yard touchdown pass to Darnell Washington, who ran down the seam and was hit in stride by Rudolph in the end zone. Plays like that are what fans have been begging to see with No. 80 going on three seasons now – let’s hope that was a sign of things to come in September and beyond. Rudolph had one more drive and finished his day 9-of-10 with 84 yards and a touchdown.
Skylar Thompson entered the game for the Steelers’ third drive and proceeded to have a tremendous performance. He led a drive at the end of the first half that featured a tremendous throw and catch to running back/wide receiver Max Hurleman to get the Steelers inside the 10 yard-line. Thompson came back to the Colgate/Notre Dame product for a touchdown, which No. 34 celebrated with a standing backflip. The rookie has had a fantastic camp, and he put an exclamation point on his work with his performance.
After the Jaguars took a 15-14 lead, Thompson led a nine-play drive that ended with a touchdown pass to Trey Sermon on a screen pass to give the Steelers a 21-15 lead. The Steelers then went on a 12-play drive that ended with a Ben Sauls field goal following a Jaguars three-and-out. Jacksonville made it a two-point game in the fourth quarter on a Bhayshul Tuten touchdown run, which then led to Thompson’s best throw go the game, taking a shot as he launched a 26-yard pass right into the hands of Ke’Shawn Williams for his third touchdown pass of the night. The Jaguars added a field goal, but wouldn’t be able to get any closer as the Steelers would go on to win 31-25.
Thompson deserves a major tip of the cap. No one paid him any attention throughout the offseason, and in training camp, he was the fourth-most talked-about quarterback...
