Behind the Steel Curtain
The Pittsburgh Steelers came up short in their penultimate preseason game, falling 17-14 to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. Of course, though, the final score comes second to player evaluation, as well as player health, which is where we’ll start in this week’s recap.
Nick Herbig left the game in the first quarter with a hamstring injury. He was seen on the sideline, though, after the fact, and it doesn’t appear to be anything serious. Before leaving, though, he broke through for a pressure on Teddy Bridgewater on the first drive. Long snapper Christian Kuntz left the game with a chest injury.
In terms of the game, though, it was a slow start for the Steelers. After holding Tampa Bay to an opening drive three-and-out, Mason Rudolph threw an interception to Zyon McCollum, which led to a touchdown pass from Bridgewater to running back Bucky Irving. Payton Wilson provided good coverage, but didn’t get his head turned around to make a play on the ball. Brandin Echols would suffer a similar fate later on in the first quarter against Emeka Egbuka, who had to go down to the turf to make a great catch for the touchdown.
Rudolph and the Steelers struck back quickly, though, and did so in a way that certainly got fans excited. Rudolph connected with Roman Wilson for a 43-yard gain on the first play of the ensuing drive. A pass interference call on Jamel Dean in coverage on Brandon Johnson put the Steelers at the two-yard line, where Rudolph hit Brandon Johnson for a touchdown.
The play to Wilson was promising, especially after the second-year wideout from Michigan had a 19-yard catch to begin the game last week against the Jacksonville Jaguars. On the next drive, Skylar Thompson hit Wilson on a crosser that went for 30 yards. Wilson has been the team’s WR2 on the outside since the start of camp, and he’s doing all he can to show he can carry that spot into the regular season.
The Steelers trailed 14-7 at the half, and finally tied the game after Tez Johnson muffed a punt that Max Hurleman recovered. Kaleb Johnson then carried the ball three straight times for 18 yards before Trey Sermon punched it in for a touchdown.
Johnson’s performance was notable, as many eyes were on the rookie after a quiet showing in Week 1. And while he started slow, a lot of that had to do with poor offensive line play. Even so, he ended his day with a respectable 50 yards on 11 carries.
Speaking of rookies with eyes on them, Derrick Harmon had one of the plays of the game in the first quarter, bull rushing his way through the Buccaneers’ interior offensive line for his first sack, which got the fans excited. He finished his day with three tackles and that sack.
Several Steelers defenders had nice games. It was good to see Cole Holcomb look fast and ready for the regular season – he finished with...
