The Pittsburgh Steelers played their second preseason contest of the 2024 slate on Saturday night against the Buffalo Bills and it left fans with even more concerns about their team moving forward after a 9-3 loss.
The offense was once again the biggest issue for Pittsburgh and managed to play even worse than it did in what was a sloppy preseason Week 1 showing.
Pittsburgh mustered up just three points all night long and failed to cash in on a potential game-winning drive late in the fourth quarter, which was the least shocking thing ever after what we saw leading up to it.
Thankfully, the defense had a positive showing, even without several key players suiting up. However, that side of the ball wasn't perfect, with the unit struggling in one key area.
Now, let's dive a bit deeper into the offense, defense and special teams showings from the Steelers' preseason Week 2 loss to the Bills and and slap a grade on each.
Pittsburgh Steelers report card
Offense: F
Just about everything that could've went wrong did for the Steelers on Saturday night, en route to the team scoring just three points despite having both Russell Wilson and Justin Fields playing.
Both signal-callers certainly had their faults in this game, but the offensive line was the most glaring issue, as Wilson and Fields were under consistent pressure, which helped lead to too many checkdowns and less-than manageable third downs. Not to mention, the Steelers only averaged 3.9 yards per carry.
Broderick Jones. Oh no. #Steelers pic.twitter.com/X88G3Uq01p
— Alex Kozora (@Alex_Kozora) August 17, 2024
Second-year tackle Broderick Jones was easily the weakest link, but one has to wonder if his elbow issue impacted his play. We can only hope that's the case, because otherwise it makes his showing even more concerning.
Defense: B
The defense didn't have its full complement of starters but still did its part, albeit against a duo of Mitchell Trubisky and Ben DiNucci. Even still, holding a passing attack to 78 yards and securing an interception deserves praise.
Nick Herbig was the biggest standout on defense with 1.5 sacks, and both Keeanu Benton and Julius Welschof got to the quarterback, also. Larry Ogunjobi set up the sack Herbig and Benton shared.
Mark Robinson had a tackle for loss and Darius Rush, Dean Lowry, Miles Killebrew and Thomas Graham all had pass break-ups.
Nick Herbig could have 15 sacks as a full-time starter
— Josh Yourish (@JYourish3) August 17, 2024
pic.twitter.com/NIkpFPlviJ
The only blemish on the evening was a poor showing by the run defense, which gave up 167 yards to the tune of 4.9 yards per carry. If not for that, the Steelers' defense would've gotten a "A".
Special Teams: C
Cameron Johnston was an absolute unit, averaging 56.8 yards per punt, including a long of 65. He also dropped two punts inside the 20. On a night when the Steelers needed to win the field position battle, Johnston did all he could to make it happen.
Chris Boswell missed his first attempt of the preseason on a 52-yarder, but he was able to bounce back with a 43-yard make later in the game, which served as the only scoring the Steelers did all night.
The return game wasn't bad, but it wasn't great, either. Calvin Austin and Scotty Miller averaged 10.8 and 13 yards per punt return, respectively, and La'Mical Perine and John Rhys Plumlee tallied 22.5 and 21.5 yards per kick return, respectively.
