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Feats of Strength: Steelers' first-teamers decidedly win 'sparring session' against Bills | TribLIVE.com
Steelers/NFL

Feats of Strength: Steelers' first-teamers decidedly win 'sparring session' against Bills

Tim Benz
Tim Benz

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Steelers tight end Pat Freiermuth celebrates his first-quarter touchdown against the Bills Saturday Aug.19, 2023 at Acrisure Stadium.

The Steelers and Buffalo Bills wanted to see “good-on-good” at Acrisure Stadium on Saturday night. So both clubs started most of their first-team players for the second preseason game of 2023.

Well, half of that ended up happening. The Steelers were good. Buffalo was not.

The Steelers dusted the Bills, 27-15. And their top-of-the-depth-chart players were significantly better than Buffalo’s.

Not only did coach Mike Tomlin’s team make a lot of big plays, but they avoided mistakes as well.

The Steelers had only four penalties. Buffalo had 13. The Steelers forced four turnovers. They committed none until a misfired shotgun snap exchange between Mason Rudolph and Kendrick Green in the fourth quarter.

So coming up with a bunch of “Feats of Strength” after a victory against one of the AFC’s best teams over the past few years was a pretty easy task this week.

Offensive explosion: We’ve all been asking for more explosive plays from the Steelers offense. Coordinator Matt Canada’s unit has provided exactly that over the first two preseason games.

Last week against Tampa Bay, the Steelers had touchdown receptions of 67 and 33 yards by Calvin Austin III and George Pickens, respectively. Pittsburgh had only two touchdown passes beyond the red zone during the entire 2022 regular season.

On Saturday night, against many Buffalo starters, the Steelers had two quick scoring strikes. The first was a 62-yard touchdown run by Jaylen Warren. It featured good blocks from James Daniels, Isaac Seumalo and Dan Moore up front and Diontae Johnson downfield.

“All I had to really do was run fast,” Warren said. “It was blocked up perfectly. I was untouched. That says more about the offense than me.”

Then, after a 54-yard punt return from Austin, quarterback Kenny Pickett drilled a TD pass to Pat Freiermuth from 25 yards away.

“We’ve been clicking all camp, and the first two (games) we have been able to bring it in stadiums,” Freiermuth said. “Our confidence right now is very high as an offense.”

A 62-yard run? A big special-teams return? A one-play scoring drive? This is stuff we could’ve only dreamed about last season.

If we are dreaming, maybe let us sleep until, oh, mid-February.

Successful sparring: It’s great to see the offense make the most out of the work it’s getting out of the preseason games. After last year, it was needed, even if there is an injury risk.

Last year’s defense wasn’t exactly reminiscent of the old Steel Curtain. It needs work, too. But, boy, the injury risk-reward quotient sure seems less worth it when we are talking about Cameron Heyward, T.J. Watt and Minkah Fitzpatrick.

That said, Tomlin loves his “you need to spar before you can box” mantra. So he put those defensive stars in the ring against quarterback Josh Allen and the vaunted Bills first-team offense.

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Coordinator Teryl Austin’s group answered the bell. Allen and company had a three-and-out on their first drive. The first-team Steelers defense forced a punt on the second drive as well (with help from numerous Bills penalties) before giving way to some of the backups.

Most importantly, they managed to do so without any injuries. So, a good sparring session all around.

PBUs by the LBs: The Steelers linebackers have been skewered for their pass coverage in recent years. But there were a few examples of decent work in that regard Saturday.

Alex Highsmith batted down an Allen pass intended for Stefon Diggs in the first quarter. Cole Holcomb deflected a pass that eventually was intercepted in the end zone by Elijah Riley during the second quarter.

Nick Herbig was credited with a pass deflection as well, but that was getting a piece of the ball as Allen was throwing.

Pressley’s punts: Give some credit to coordinator Danny Smith’s special teams. Start with Austin’s punt return.

Then get to the kicking game. Chris Boswell made all five of his place kicks (two field goals and three extra points). Pressley Harvin III had a long punt of 52 yards and dropped five punts inside the 20. One of them was downed by long snapper Christian Kuntz at the 6-yard line. That effort ended up with Buffalo quarterback Matt Barkley throwing an interception to Joey Porter Jr. on the second snap of the drive.

The offense cashed in that turnover with a touchdown drive from Mitch Trubisky to Connor Heyward.

Team turnover: The defense wasn’t done after those picks by Riley and Porter Jr.

In the second half, Chandon Sullivan caught his own deflection at the line of scrimmage for an impressive interception.

“That’s the name of the game. We are trying to create turnovers and opportunities for our offense. Because we know what they are going to do. They have so many weapons,” Sullivan said.

And Herbig continued his headline-worthy preseason with a strip-sack of Barkley. It was recovered by Tanner Muse.

“Dynamite comes in small packages,” Herbig responded to a question about his perceived lack of size against NFL offensive linemen.

Both of those ensuing offensive drives resulted in field goals.

Tim Benz is a Tribune-Review staff writer. You can contact Tim at tbenz@triblive.com or via X. All tweets could be reposted. All emails are subject to publication unless specified otherwise.

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