The individual player statistics were grim, and the numbers on the scoreboard were ugly. A lot of the feel-good from the preseason opener eight days earlier vanished like a puff of smoke in a windstorm. Heroes to zeroes from one outing to the next.
Such is life during an NFL preseason, and Friday night against the New York Jets at Acrisure Stadium was the first time these Steelers experienced this as a group of players and coaches. The scores of preseason games really don't matter at all, with the possible exception of a shutout, and the Jets held the Steelers scoreless, 17-0. It was the first time since the second game of the 2016 preseason that they were skunked. That had to sting just a little.
But what's really going on right now is paring the 90 into a 53-man roster that will serve as the tip of the spear of 68 total players who will represent the Steelers during the upcoming regular season set to begin for them on Sunday, Sept. 13 vs. Atlanta on this same patch of grass.
Friday night against the Jets was anticipated because it was going to present the team's two young quarterbacks – second-year pro Will Howard and rookie third-round pick Drew Allar – in a classic show-us-what-you-got challenge. Coach Mike McCarthy had announced that Howard would start the game, with Allar then taking over in the second half. Aaron Rodgers and Mason Rudolph would not play.
That turned out to be just as disappointing as everything else over the next 2-and-a-half hours that ended up spoiling what otherwise would've been a pleasant way to spend a Friday night in late August.
Let's start with Howard, since he was the starting quarterback. And to be fair Howard would start with a disadvantage, because by the time he took the field with the offense the Jets had a 7-0 lead.
Geno Smith quarterbacked the Jets right down the field after the opening kickoff, 69 yards in 10 plays in 5:56 of game time. He completed 7-of-7 for 65 yards and a 1 touchdown, and he converted 2-of-2 third downs – a 10-yard pass to TE Mason Taylor on a third-and-9, and a 10-yard pass to WR Garrett Wilson on a third-and-6. He made the plays NFL starting quarterbacks are required to make.
The Steelers offense was unable to match the first time it got the ball. There was little push on two running plays by Jaylen Warren, which set up a third-and-9, and then Howard was high with a throw down the middle of the field to WR Roman Wilson. Punt, the first of 6 on the night by Cameron Johnston.
Football is the ultimate team sport, and the Steelers then went through a series of failures as a team. The next offensive series was ruined by a third-down sack when Edge David Bailey, the second overall pick of the 2026 NFL Draft, got away from Broderick Jones. Two other possessions before the first half ended were sabotaged by interceptions, and while not all interceptions belong to the quarterback, that's for McCarthy to judge about those two. Today, there is no choice but to assign them to Howard.
The first of those interceptions ended a decent stretch of play by Howard. The Steelers' third possession began at their 30-yard line with 7 seconds left in the first quarter. Warren carried twice for 1 first down, and then when his third carry of the drive gained 5, Howard moved the sticks with a 5-yard completion to Darnell Washington. Two plays later it was third-and-8, but Howard delivered a rope over the middle to Ben Skowronek for 16 and the first down.
Back to the run, and Rico Dowdle carried twice for 11, caught a pass for 2 and ran for another 4 to set up a third-and-4 from the Jets 14-yard line. But when Howard went over the middle again, this time for Wilson, safety Andre Cisco came across and made the interception, which he returned 23 yards to the 31-yard line.
After that opening drive, the Jets offense wouldn't have much success vs. the Steelers defense for the remainder of the first half. But the Pittsburgh offense couldn't take advantage.
The first time the Steelers drove 56 yards in 12 plays before the interception, and then it was 47 yards in 10 plays on the second possession of the half to end with another turnover instead of points. Is there any consolation to have executed decently over a representative period of time to possess the ball that long and gain 103 yards, or is that even worse because statistics show that self-inflicted wounds are catastrophic in the NFL.
Allar took over for the 7 possessions in the second half, and the Steelers went three-and-out 3 times, turned it over on downs twice, and missed a field goal. For the whole game, the Steelers possessed the ball for 31 minutes and ran 68 offensive plays, but they gained a scant 242 yards. They got into the red zone twice – turned it over once and missed a field goal the second time.
This game lacked all of the things McCarthy had highlighted in the preseason-opening 28-9 win over Green Bay.
He went from saying this on Aug. 13: "I'm quick to say, especially when it gets around to playing the game, I really don't give a hoot what they do. It's about how we're going to play from an offensive standpoint. If you do it the right way, that beats good defense. Same on defense. If you're doing it the right way in the area of winning the pre-snap, playing with the right fundamentals, finishing as a unit, you'll be successful. Today was our starting point. We have a lot of work to do. I think we all recognize that, but this was a good start for us" …
To saying this in the same setting on Aug. 21: "I wish we'd have been more productive tonight, was really my message to the team. Just the reality of taking a step as a football team, the scoreboard didn't reflect that but we got great teaching film … We'll go through that and clean it up. The players will be off Sunday. Monday and Tuesday will be two of our last training camp practices. We'll go really heavy and competitive there on the offense and the defense. Wish we'd have been more productive today. We'll definitely have an opportunity to grow."
Just one more opportunity, and even though the third preseason game has its own identity in terms of personnel usage, McCarthy might still want more opportunity to evaluate and make the final determinations about the all-important task of the trimming of these 90 to the chosen 53.
Such is life during an NFL preseason.
