Winners and losers from the Pittsburgh Steelers\u2019 17-14 loss to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers Saturday night at Acrisure Stadium.<\/p>\n
WINNERS
\nWRs Roman Wilson, Brandon Johnson, Scotty Miller, and Roc Taylor<\/p>\n
A four-fer! These four wideouts impressed to serve as offensive bright spots. Wilson had a quiet training camp but has been loud in his two preseason games. Loose or busted coverage might\u2019ve helped but Wilson showed his speed and caught the ball well, ripping off two chunk plays for an offense in search of more of them. With veteran Calvin Austin III still sidelined by injury and DK Metcalf resting this preseason, Wilson has stepped up.<\/p>\n
Johnson found the end zone on a scramble drill and continues making the bulk of his plays in the red zone. He was a touchdown machine in training camp, his five second on the team and only trailing Metcalf\u2019s 10. Johnson also helped his cause making a tackle on the ensuing kickoff.<\/p>\n
Miller keeps making plays and snagged a couple first-half throws over the middle. In the first half, his two receptions totaled 38 yards. He continues pushing hard for a roster spot and at this point, it\u2019s hard to see him not making it. Not just because of his playmaking but running ahead of Robert Woods and the Steelers\u2019 rookie wideouts.<\/p>\n
Taylor stepped up in the second half. He showed YAC on a smoke screen by breaking a tackle against a closing corner, turning a no gain into a first down. He blocked on RB Lew Nichols\u2019 long 37-yard run and on the ensuing drive, caught a 20-yard pass from reserve QB Logan Woodside. He just missed a touchdown on a downfield throw from Woodside but overall, Taylor impressed.<\/p>\n
DL Logan Lee<\/p>\n
The more you can do, the better. From snapping on the side before training camp practices to doing it inside a stadium, Lee proved why having a versatile and even quirky skill set is important. Christian Kuntz\u2019s injury left the team without a true snapper, pressing Lee into action.<\/p>\n
A long snapper in high school, Lee has practiced it on the side during his two camps with Pittsburgh. While his snaps weren\u2019t perfect, some a little low, they were \u201cgood-enough\u201d and his punt snaps were actually pretty solid. Kudos to him for doing what it takes to help the team \u2013 which in turn, helps his own cause.<\/p>\n
DL Derrick Harmon<\/p>\n
Harmon picked up his first sack<\/a> with a great bull rush, showcasing the strength and power that got him drafted in the first round. Measuring his true performance will come via the All-22 and he may have missed one tackle against the run, but his sack was a grown-man play. Harmon had a good bull rush on the called-back interception against the Jaguars. This time, Harmon is rewarded with the sack. The first of hopefully many.<\/p>\n ILBs Cole Holcomb & Malik Harrison<\/p>\n Nice showing from the Steelers\u2019 backup inside linebackers. Holcomb had an early tackle for loss and continues to look healthy in his first preseason since his serious 2023 knee injury. He\u2019s a virtual lock to make the roster. Harrison showed why he was signed with hard-nosed run defense. When Patrick Queen suits up for the regular season, Holcomb and Harrison will struggle to find playing time but they\u2019re capable depth and will play on special teams.<\/p>\n OTs Broderick Jones & Troy Fautanu<\/p>\n In pass protection, at least, Jones and Fautanu looked strong. With the Bucs playing their starters and facing talented pass rushers, the Steelers\u2019 bookend tackles held up. Rudolph\u2019s touchdown pass to Johnson showed it well. Jones had a great rep sticking and mirroring<\/a> against Yaya Diaby while Fautanu sealed the edge well, giving Rudolph time to scramble and fire.<\/p>\n Each\u2019s run blocking needs more evaluation, but they\u2019ve kept Mason Rudolph\u2019s pocket clean in two preseason games facing starting and formidable rushers.<\/p>\n RB Lew Nichols<\/p>\n Nichols keeps making plays. Signed midway through training camp, he\u2019s popped in both preseason games. He took his first carry 37 yards, breaking tackles and running hard to rip off a chunk play. A few plays later, Nichols made a nice snare in the flat for a handful of yards. Making plays in back-to-back games is a great way to latch onto the practice squad. Nichols has set himself up to stick there.<\/p>\n DB D\u2019Shawn Jamsion<\/p>\n Jamison atoned for an early roughing-the-kicker penalty with a strong second half. He fit and filled the run with authority and forced a fumble in the fourth quarter, preventing Tampa Bay from potentially taking the lead in a tie game.<\/p>\n Jamison has been physical all camp and taken advantage of increased reps due to injuries and\/or veteran sitting out.<\/p>\n S Sebastian Castro<\/p>\n Castro didn\u2019t force a turnover but had himself a nice night. A physical and solid tackler, he was steady throughout Saturday night. He\u2019s competing with Quindell Johnson for a practice squad spot and Johnson made some plays, too, but Castro\u2019s play has been on the upswing the last two weeks. He finished as the team\u2019s leading tackler with five.<\/p>\n Elsewhere, EDGE Eku Leota also stuck out with his speed, pass rush, and a fourth-down run stuff.<\/p>\n LOSERS Rookie Kaleb Johnson busted one nice 14-yard run off a zone scheme but beyond that, the Steelers\u2019 running game continues to look bottled up. Despite 80 percent of the starting offensive line playing, LG Isaac Seumalo the only absence, the results have been below the line. Even Mike Tomlin offered a critique during his halftime interview. Johnson and the running game picked up after halftime, but that came with Tampa\u2019s backups in.<\/p>\n There are several summer caveats to offer but the running game must do a 180 once the games start counting.<\/p>\n OT Gareth Warren<\/p>\n Tough game for the rookie. He was flagged for a false start that turned a 3rd and 10 into a 3rd and 15 and a hold that created a 1st and 20. He battled a summer injury and has spent more time at right tackle despite primarily playing on the left side in college but Warren didn\u2019t do himself any favors in this game. A lack of foot speed may make him better suited for guard, though he\u2019s yet to kick inside in Pittsburgh.<\/p>\n Pass Coverage<\/p>\n Hard to pin it on any one Steeler. In fairness, Tampa Bay has a talented and deep group of wide receivers while Pittsburgh sat large pieces of its starting secondary. No Jalen Ramsey, Darius Slay, Joey Porter Jr., or DeShon Elliott. But when he wasn\u2019t under pressure, QB Teddy Bridgewater found open targets. Rookie Emeka Egbuka beat CB Brandin Echols for a touchdown while ILB Payton Wilson got beat by RB Bucky Irving on the game\u2019s first score.<\/p>\n It sounds like the lumps Pittsburgh\u2019s defense took in the joint practice carried over to tonight\u2019s game.<\/p>\n WR Max Hurleman<\/p>\n Hurleman\u2019s night is a reminder that finishing is just as important as starting. After a strong camp and impressive preseason debut against Jacksonville, Hurleman struggled to stack performances tonight. In the first half, he dropped a wide-open touchdown. The throw might\u2019ve been a little high but certainly catchable. A more difficult contested catch later in the game also went in and out of his hands. He recovered a fumble on a punt (and didn\u2019t force the fumble on Woodside\u2019s pick, for those wondering), but that won\u2019t make up for the rest of his day.<\/p>\n Hurleman can still make the practice squad but tonight likely quashed his faint hopes of making the 53.<\/p>\n C Zach Frazier<\/p>\n Frazier struggled with snap issues early in training camp. Those problems were mostly cleaned up by the end of the summer but resurfaced tonight. At least two low snaps threw off timing of plays. The first came on Mason Rudolph\u2019s interception while the second came on Hurleman\u2019s drop.<\/p>\n The rare off-target snap happens. Frazier has had a recurring issue that must be rectified before Week 1.<\/p>\n EDGE DeMarvin Leal<\/p>\n Leal won\u2019t immediately come to mind, and he had at least one run stuff\/tackle tonight. But for a veteran who needs a big preseason, it hasn\u2019t been there. As a pass rusher, he\u2019s been invisible, and his game has cooled off since a good start to training camp. Even with injuries to Alex Highsmith and Nick Herbig hurting his hamstring tonight, the odds that Leal\u2019s on the roster come cutdowns are approaching zero.<\/p>\n QB Logan Woodside<\/p>\n Woodside\u2019s Steelers debut was\u2026not good. He\u2019s only been with the team a little more than a week but it\u2019s clear why he\u2019s barely hanging on NFL rosters. Woodside missed WR Roc Taylor for a would-be touchdown, threw to the flat on 4th and 7, and threw late and was picked late<\/a> in the fourth quarter. At least he made the tackle and technically, forced a fumble.<\/p>\n I would\u2019ve preferred Will Howard throwing left-handed.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Winners and losers from the Pittsburgh Steelers\u2019 17-14 loss to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers Saturday night at Acrisure…\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":152666,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[39],"tags":[70980,89412,89413,1232,1545,53597,62,939,67,132,68,9405,50070],"class_list":{"0":"post-152665","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-nfl","8":"tag-broderick-jones","9":"tag-logan-lee","10":"tag-max-hurleman","11":"tag-nfl","12":"tag-pittsburgh-steelers","13":"tag-roman-wilson","14":"tag-sports","15":"tag-trending","16":"tag-united-states","17":"tag-unitedstates","18":"tag-us","19":"tag-weekly","20":"tag-zach-frazier"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@us\/115043138508402040","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/152665","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=152665"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/152665\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/152666"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=152665"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=152665"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=152665"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
\n(First Half) Running Game<\/p>\n