CANTON, OH (93.7 The Fan) – The start of the preseason means the start of the Steelers Six points.
QB2
-There was a fumble on a broken up play on the first possession, but other than that, Mason Rudolph was solid. He completed 6 of 9 for 85 yards, 96.5 rating including a great deep throw to Chase Claypool on a good route. Claypool earlier had a drop on the second possession on a nice pass on third down by Rudolph that should have kept the drive alive.
-Dwayne Haskins led the only scoring drive and was 8 of 13 for 54 yards, 70.7 rating, had a potential dropped ball by James Washington. Haskins said earlier this week that Mike Tomlin calls him ‘check down’ and he proved that a few times Thursday night.
Running Game
-Najee Harris had a trio of six-yard runs and another of 5 yards, while those are short carries at Alabama. It seemed like major improvement for the Steelers run game. Harris finished with 7 carries for 22 yards.
-free agent from San Diego Kalen Ballage bulled forward for a four yard touchdown, finishing with 5 carries for 19 yards
-Anthony McFarland had 3 carries for 9 yards
-the team rushed for 76 yards on 30 carries
Offensive Line
-Steelers started a pair of rookies and three free agents on the offensive line which went from left to right—Dan Moore, Jr, BJ Finney, Kendrick Green, Rashaad Coward, Joe Haeg. There weren’t a ton of holes to run behind, but it appeared to be an average to possibly ok effort which compared to last year was an improvement
-Truly hard to gauge without anyone listed as starters on the initial two-deep starting this game. JC Hassenauer, listed as number one, worked as the back-up center.
Secondary
-Cam Sutton and James Pierre were the starting corners. Pierre had a big tipped pass defense, 4 solo tackles and appeared solid filling in for Joe Haden.
-Justin Layne gave up a couple of passes but did force a fumble and finished with 4 tackles
-Donovan Stiner picked off Ben DiNucci on a long pass over the middle and turned it 18 yards. Stiner is a 6’2”, 210 pound rookie from Florida.
-6-year defensive back Miles Kilebrew from Southern Utah had 6 tackles, all solo.
Special Teams
-rookie punter Pressley Harvin III had a second quarter punt that landed on the one and spun dead right there. Officially four punts for an average of 45.8 yards. The other punts downed at the 10 and 11-yard line and the final muffed and recovered by the Steelers.
-Matthew Sexton (5’11”, 175), 2nd year player from Eastern Michigan with a 36-yard punt return to set up the Steelers touchdown
-Tre Norwood blocked a 29-yard Dallas FG attempt as the seventh round pick attempts to win a job on special teams and grow into a role in the secondary. Norwood did start as a defensive back.
-Receiver Anthony Johnson recovered a muffed punt in the fourth quarter
-Sam Sloman made a 48-yard field goal after he missed an extra point and a 49-yard FG.
Other Notes
-Alex Highsmith noticeable on nearly every play as one of potentially four starters who opened the game on defense for the Steelers. Highsmith had a sack and caused issues in the backfield.
-Cassius Marsh helped finish the Highsmith sack and had a sack of his own
-Rookie sixth round pick, OLB Quincey Roche had a sack in the third quarter
-Josh Dobbs with a 5-yard TD pass to Tyler Simmons in the 4th quarter
-Claypool finished with 3 catches for 62 yards and left the game after apparently getting the wind knocked out of him landing on the turf after the 45-yard catch.
-Steelers were without their top two tight ends Eric Ebron (elbow) and second round pick Pat Freiermuth (shoulder). Kevin Rader had a key block on the Ballage TD run and a catch for 15 yards.
-others who did not play-JuJu Smith-Schuster, Ben Roethlisberger, Trai Turner, Zach Banner, Chukwuma Okorafor, Cam Heyward, Stephon Tuitt, TJ Watt, Tyson Alualu, Devin Bush, Minkah Fitzpatrick, Terrell Edmunds, Chris Boswell, Joe Haden, Kevin Dotson, Benny Snell (unknown reason)