The Pittsburgh Steelers did not have a great start to their preseason slate on Friday night after dropping the exhibition opener to the Houston Texans, 20-12.
The Steelers had a chance to win the game late, but an interception from the arm of quarterback Kyle Allen thwarted the comeback attempt. It was just one of many mishaps Pittsburgh had in the contest.
“Really a sloppy performance, to be honest with you,” head coach Mike Tomlin said. “It’s capable of happening, obviously, in the first preseason game, but not that we find comfort in that. We work too hard to have the results that we had tonight, so it’s disappointing. How we work off of it obviously will define us, and we’ll have a good rep at responding to negativity as we push into our next opportunity.”
As bad as things were for the Steelers, there were still some players who managed to stand out and help their cause. On the flip side, some players no doubt hurt their stock.
Let's see which Steelers helped or hurt their cause the most on Friday night.
Steelers who helped, hurt their cause
Helped
RB Daijun Edwards: The rookie led all Steelers running backs in rushing yards on the strength of an explosive 24-yard run that helped set up his one-yard score later in the drive. He also added a 27-yard kick return for good measure. He was buried on the depth chart going into this game but might be moving up after it.
QB Kyle Allen: The veteran signal-caller is trying to force the Steelers to carry a third quarterback, and he made progress on that goal after leading Pittsburgh to its only two scoring drives of the night. He finished 17-23 with 193 yards and one touchdown to one pick, which came on the final series of the game.
WR Calvin Austin: The third-year wideout is off to a heck of a start in his quest for the No. 3 receiver role after leading all pass-catchers in receiving yards with 49. He had a pair of catches totaling over 20 yards.
WR Scotty Miller: Miller was solid in training camp, and that carried over to the preseason opener, where he had the second-most receiving yards with 47, and the longest reception of the night that went for 38 yards.
C Zach Frazier: He wasn't perfect by any means, but the run game really started to get going once Frazier was inserted into the lineup. Making his performance look even better, Nate Herbig struggled with multiple exchanges with Justin Fields.
DT Montravius Adams: The veteran is trying to earn a depth role in 2024, and so far so good. Adams tallied one sack and a pass defensed in what was a strong showing.
DE DeMarvin Leal: Entering his second season, Leal needed to put together a strong camp and preseason to earn himself a role. He was impressive on Friday night, with three tackles and a sack.
LB Payton Wilson: The third-round pick was all over the place in his preseason debut, tallying a team-high seven tackles, including one for loss and one on special teams.
OLB Jeremiah Moon: Thanks to Markus Golden's retirement, a spot opened up at outside linebacker. Moon was the biggest standout at the position in this game, as he totaled the second-most tackles on the team with six, and added a sack.
Hurt
WR Quez Watkins: You can forget Watkins earning a role as a punt returner after he muffed a punt that led to a turnover and points for Houston. He also had a bad fair catch before that.
C Nate Herbig: The two bad exchanges with Fields marred Herbig's night. Making matters worse, his competition for the starting job, Frazier, had some standout moments in the run game.
RT Troy Fautanu: It wasn't all bad for the rookie, who showed some flashes in the run game. However, he gave up two of the three sacks Pittsburgh's offensive line allowed, and both thwarted drives. If Fautanu wants to earn the right tackle job, he's going to have to do better than that.
CB Beanie Bishop: The undrafted free agent got the start in the slot but had issues in coverage. After the game, head coach Mike Tomlin admitted he's going to need to see more from Bishop if the rookie is going to get a starting role out of the gate.
