Aug 23, 2024 5 min read

By Dale Lolley

For the Observer-Reporter

newsroom@observer-reporter.com

The Steelers’ starting offensive unit played five series in last week’s preseason game against the Buffalo Bills and failed to produce points.

Russell Wilson, seeing his first action of the preseason after missing time with a calf injury, completed 8 of 10 passes, but for only 47 yards.

Overall, the unit produced just two first downs.

That, of course, immediately caused a panic among Steelers fans, who apparently don’t recall how they felt last season when the Kenny Pickett-led offense played five series in the preseason and scored touchdowns on all five. The problem was, by the time the offense produced five touchdowns once the regular season began, the Steelers were 70 possessions into their schedule.

The moral of the story? Be wary of preseason results. They can, and often are, misleading.

And in this preseason, that might be even more so the case.

Does anyone, after all, think the Denver Broncos are going to lead the league in scoring? Through the first two weeks of the preseason, the Broncos are averaging more than 30 points per game with rookie Bo Nix winning the starting quarterback job.

Are they printing those Super Bowl T-shirts yet in Denver?

Perhaps some are. But the realists out there know the Broncos are being a little more aggressive than most teams in the preseason because they’re trying to get a young quarterback as much exposure and confidence as they can before the wins and losses start to count.

For most other teams, the only goals in a preseason game are to get veteran players enough snaps to get them ready for the regular season while not getting anyone injured. And that’s if they even play their veteran players at all. Many are choosing not to do so.

As a result, teams are averaging only 15.6 points per game in this preseason, the fewest in the past seven years.

Perhaps the issue is not necessarily the Steelers’ offense – though you’d certainly like to see that unit be more productive. Perhaps the NFL can’t cut the preseason to two games quickly enough.

• The Steelers and Bills also held a joint practice two days before their preseason game, and the Steelers more than held their own in those drills.

And that included the defense holding up against quarterback Josh Allen, who didn’t play in the preseason game, and the offense having its way with the Bills defense.

That practice session was every bit as impressive as the preseason game was disappointing.

The only difference? The joint practice was closed to the public, while the game was seen by anyone who wished to watch.

The biggest difference between the two was that, as they have done throughout training camp, the Steelers’ offense used a lot of two- and three-tight end formations in the practice against the Bills. In the game, they played a lot with only one tight end on the field.

Don’t think for a second the Steelers were all that interested in putting a lot of offensive stuff on tape for future opponents to study.

“But we’ve got to execute,” new offensive coordinator Arthur Smith said while conceding the Steelers weren’t showing much.

“No matter what’s called, we’ve got to block and we’ve got to execute. We’ve got to be at the right depths and all that stuff and rhythm.”

• The Steelers acquired Wilson in the offseason and told Pickett that he would be behind Wilson on the depth chart.

When Pickett balked at that and asked to be traded, the Steelers acquiesced and shipped him to Philadelphia. They then acquired Justin Fields via a trade with the Chicago Bears.

So, if Pickett hadn’t expressed his desire to not be placed behind Wilson on the depth chart, Fields wouldn’t even be with the Steelers.

Wilson then took all of the first-team snaps with the offense throughout the offseason program. It wasn’t until Wilson suffered a calf injury on the first day of training camp that Fields took any legitimate first-team snaps.

But to hear the national media talk, there’s a quarterback competition in Pittsburgh. This, despite the fact Wilson has remained atop the depth chart all the way.

Over the past three seasons, the Steelers are 28-7 when they win the turnover battle. They’re 0-17-1 when they lose it or are tied.

Wilson’s career interception rate is 1.9 percent, meaning he throws an interception 1.9 times for every 100 passes thrown. It’s the same rate over his past three seasons.

The interception rate for Fields is 3.1 percent. That doesn’t seem like a lot, but if the quarterback throws 500 passes, that’s about six more interceptions over the course of the season.

Oh, and Wilson threw 26 touchdown passes last season while Fields threw 16.

This isn’t to knock Fields, just to point out that Wilson was brought here to be the starter. Nothing that has happened in the preseason has changed that outlook, no matter what the national media might be saying.

Dale Lolley hosts The Drive on Steelers Nation Radio and writes a Sunday column for the Observer-Reporter.