It was not the kind of preseason opener that will make Steelers head coach Mike Tomlin and his coaching staff happy when watching the replay.
The Steelers made multiple mistakes in their preseason opener, consistently beating themselves, as they dropped a 20-12 decision to the Houston Texans before a crowd of 63,194 at Acrisure Stadium to kick off their 2024 preseason schedule at Acrisure Stadium.
Tomlin said earlier this week he wanted to see his offense come out and be efficient and play mistake-free football in the opener, particularly on offense, where the team is learning new offensive coordinator Arthur Smith's scheme.
That didn't necessarily happen, as botched snaps and sacks plagued the unit early.
"It's disappointing," said Tomlin. "How we work off of it will define us. We'll have a good rep at responding to negativity as we push into our next opportunity. We need to be significantly better. (That is) taking nothing away from the Houston Texans. It was nothing that they did. It was about the things that we didn't do, or the wounds we inflicted to ourselves."
A Look at the Offense
The Steelers' first-team offense, minus left guard Isaac Seumalo and quarterback Russell Wilson, who were among those sitting out, moved the ball effectively twice across midfield in the three possessions it played, but mistakes caused those drives to stall.
The Steelers had another botched snap on the first play of their next possession, but that was recovered by fullback Jack Colletto for a 4-yard gain. Fields, however, was sacked on third down by Danielle Hunter, forcing the Steelers to punt.
Kyle Allen entered the game after Fields left, and led the Steelers from their own 27 to the Houston 1. But on third-and-goal from the 1, Jonathan Ward was stopped for a 1-yard loss, and Allen's fourth-down pass to a wide-open Calvin Austin III in the back corner of the end zone sailed over the receiver's head, turning the ball over on downs.
"The way the DBs were playing, I wasn't sure if the DBs were going to in and out and pass off their guys," said Allen. "At the last second, they passed him off and he took it high. I've just got to give him a better ball. I threw it too deep for him."
"We spend a lot of time working in that area of the field from a team development standpoint," said Tomlin, referring to the team's "7-Shots" drill it uses to open practice every day. "We feel really comfortable being really aggressive under those circumstances. We had a guy open. We didn't finish it."
A Closer Look at the Defense
The Steelers did not play outside linebackers T.J. Watt and Alex Highsmith, defensive tackle Cam Heyward, inside linebacker Patrick Queen and safety Minkah Fitzpatrick on defense. Despite the absences, there were some bright spots on the defensive side of the ball. Rookie inside linebacker Payton Wilson paced the Steelers defense with six tackles, while outside linebacker Jeremiah Moon had five tackles and a sack.
A Glimpse Into the Future
The good news for Tomlin and his staff is that there is still a month remaining before the Steelers open the regular season at Atlanta to iron out some of the kinks. The Texans, who had already played a preseason game, having taken part in the Hall of Fame game, looked like a team that had a game under its belt as they ended the Steelers' 6-game preseason winning streak.
The Steelers will face a tough test in Week 2 of the preseason against the Cincinnati Bengals, a team that they've had some memorable battles with in recent years. With the regular season just a month away, it will be important for the Steelers to use these remaining preseason games to build chemistry and work on their execution, particularly on offense. The pressure is on, but the opportunity is there for the Steelers to bounce back from a disappointing preseason opener.
© 2024 Pittsburgh Steelers. All Rights Reserved
