In the grand scheme of things, preseason results for a team don't matter. One month into the regular season, nobody remembers the record of their favorite team.
But individual results? They matter a great deal.
And that's definitely something to take out of Saturday night's 17-14 preseason loss by the Steelers to Tampa Bay at Acrisure Stadium.
Yes, the Steelers lost the game. But given the fact they were sitting a number of front-line players - as were the Bucs - it's not all that important.
What the Steelers' coaching staff did need to see, however, was some solid play from younger players looking to make a mark on this year's roster. And in this game, the Steelers got to see that.
Though the Bucs held out a number of starters, they did have their starting secondary in place. That didn't matter to second-year wide receiver Roman Wilson, who beat Jamel Dean for a 42-yard catch down the middle of the field and then Kendal Vidor for a 30-yard catch-and-run on the final play of the first quarter before calling it a day.
If that had been Wilson's lone contribution of the preseason, it would be one thing. But last week against Jacksonville's starting defense, he hauled in two passes for 24 yards in limited duty early in the game.
Overall, Wilson has played around 40 offensive snaps, but has caught four passes for 96 yards.
For a player who, because of injuries, was limited to five offensive snaps last season, it's a big step forward.
"He's had a good camp and he's backed that up with some quality in-stadium play," Steelers head coach Mike Tomlin said of Wilson. "(I) feel good about the overall trajectory of him. We've got another game in a couple of more (days) and that time is critical for a young guy, so he has to keep his foot on the gas and keep working."
In other words, the job isn't complete.
The Steelers had big plans for Wilson, a third-round pick in 2024. But he kept getting bitten by the injury bug. So, while the team likes where he is heading, he still has plenty of work to do to find his way completely into the circle of trust. But he has done a good job this offseason and preseason of doing what was needed to make that happen.
• The same could be said of the Steelers' first two draft picks, defensive tackle Derrick Harmon and running back Kaleb Johnson.
Both got their feet wet last week in Jacksonville in their first preseason game, but weren't standouts by any stretch. That changed Saturday night.
Harmon turned that early in the second quarter when he locked onto Tampa's left guard ala Cam Heyward, driving him into quarterback Kyle Trask on third down for a sack.
That move is one that shows why many draft analysts compared him to Heyward this spring.
Harmon also would go on to anchor a run defense that allowed just 38 yards on 15 carries in the first half, including 12 yards on eight attempts by 2024 1,000-yard rusher Bucky Irving. And the Bucs had several members of what is a good starting offensive line on the field.
Johnson, meanwhile, ran a little impatiently last week against Jacksonville. This week, he allowed his vision to take over and was particularly impressive when he got past the line of scrimmage, cutting back and showing the burst to turn four-yard gains into 10-yard runs.
He finished with 50 yards on 11 carries and also caught one pass for another nine yards.
"I thought we saw more of his talents all around," said Tomlin. "And that's a reasonable expectation."
It might be a reasonable expectation, but until it happens, you just don't know.
• It's tough to win when you convert just 2 of 12 third downs and turn the ball over three times – 5 counting a failed fourth down attempt and missed field goal – even at home.
That's especially true against a team such as Tampa Bay.
The Bucs are clearly the class of the NFC South, and with Teddy Bridgewater, are one of the few teams in the NFL who have a more experienced backup quarterback than the Steelers and Mason Rudolph.
Bridgewater took advantage of some early mistakes and spotted Tampa a 14-0 lead.
The defense shut the door after that, but the damage was done.
• The starting offensive line group has played reasonably well thus far, holding up in protection and not committing a bunch of penalties.
The second and third units? Not so much. The run blocking and protection overall have been fine. But those groups have had way too many penalties.
Holds happen. But the false starts and pre-snap penalties are the ones that will drive the coaching staff crazy.
That being said, they seem to be clustered among a handful of players.
• I wouldn't want to be making the decision about which punter to keep. As I've written here for months, the Steelers have two high-quality punters, probably two of the top10 to 15 in the league.
But they obviously can't keep both.
Cameron Johnston might have one or two more clubs in the bag when it comes to different styles of kicks. But as we saw again Saturday, opponents struggle fielding Waitman's left-footed kicks.
Both also are quality people in the locker room and do a good job as holders.
There's just nothing easy about that decision.
• Cole Holcomb is playing with his hair on fire, making up for the nearly two years he missed while out with a knee injury.
Payton Wilson, Malik Harrison, Mark Robinson and Carson Bruener also have looked good in training camp and the preseason.
And the Steelers have yet to play Patrick Queen.
What was once a decided weakness now might be one of the strongest position groups on the team.
• The regular season begins three weeks from today.
Knock on wood, but the Steelers have avoided any major injuries as they head into their final preseason game later this week. Here's betting Tomlin wants to keep things that way and again holds out a number of veteran players this week.
It serves two purposes.
In addition to getting to the regular season healthy, one of the team's issues in recent years has been wearing down at the end of the season.
With an early bye again this season and a bunch of tough games down the stretch, there's no sense in even getting key players nicked up at this time of the year.
Those things will happen during the course of the season. But there's little reason to have it happen now.
• Dale Lolley is co-host of "SNR Drive" on Steelers Nation Radio. Subscribe to the podcast here: Apple Podcast | iHeart Podcast Pittonline@iheartmedia.com
• The tweaks to the Dynamic Kick look like they will lead to more returns. And thus far, the Steelers coverage units have looked solid.
It appears Johnson will be pretty good as a returner, as well. He and Kenneth Gainwell could make a dynamic pair back there.
Calvin Austin III has been the punt returner the past two seasons and has done it well, but with a possible expanded role offensively, will the Steelers want to use him there?
That could open the door for a player such as Ke'Shawn Williams. Williams has been solid returning punts in the first two preseason games, but probably needs to break off a long one to earn a spot.
Right now, Scotty Miller remains listed as the No. 2 punt returner behind Austin, and Miller has been excellent in training camp and the preseason. He just always is where he is supposed to be.
• Another young receiver who has continually helped himself is Brandon Johnson. Saturday night, he drew a pass interference penalty in the end zone, then caught a touchdown pass.
On the ensuing kickoff, Johnson made the tackle. Those are the kind of series of plays that certainly check off a lot of boxes for players looking for a roster spot.
