5 things to watch in Steelers Preseason Game 2

While the rest of the NFL adjusts to playing three preseason games (in lieu of the four they’d grown accustomed to), for the Pittsburgh Steelers it’s business as usual in 2021.

The Steelers and Dallas Cowboys are scheduled for four preseason games because they met in the Hall of Fame Game last week. So while 30 of the league’s 32 teams ponder how to modify their plans for playing time distribution and evaluation of players, Mike Tomlin can stick with what he used over his first 13 seasons as Steelers coach if he so chooses.

That would slot Thursday’s 7:30 p.m. game at the Philadelphia Eagles into the category of being largely hands-off for important veterans — but Tomlin acknowledged there will be some more recognizable faces on the field than there were last week in Canton, Ohio, against the Cowboys.

Here are five things to watch:

1.Bolt-ed in

The Steelers’ two big-name offseason veteran acquisitions came later in the spring/summer — and they both were former Los Angeles Chargers. Trai Turner and Melvin Ingram likely will get their first looks in a game setting.

The duo has combined for eight Pro Bowls — Turner, five times at guard; Ingram, thrice as an edge rusher — but each is coming off an injury-plagued season that has some wondering how much they have left.

The answers we get from, maybe, two or three series against a cadre of Eagles backups in mid-August won’t give definitive answers, but Ingram has looked good at camp, and Turner’s importance can’t be understated for a team with so many issues on the offensive line. It will be nice for coaches (and fans) to get a peek at what each can do.

2. Tack-ling the issue

In regards to the in-flux offensive line, the performance of the starting tackles this season probably is more important than how Turner does. And this game could be the preseason game debut of the Zach Banner and Chuks Okorafor tandem. Tomlin has not guaranteed it, but Banner was at first-team right tackle and Okorafor on the left for the bulk of the practice reps in the week since the Hall of Fame Game after both missed most of the opening two weeks of camp.

Okorafor was working through injury early in camp — not an ideal situation for a player switching positions (he played right tackle for 15-plus games last season). Banner is coming off a torn ACL in the 2020 opener — the only start at tackle in his four-year pro career.

Both could use the game reps, and the entire line could use some live snaps against hostile opponents in which to jell.

3. Backup battle

In an ideal world for the Steelers, none of the three combatants will take a snap this season. But, for better or worse, the highest-profile position battle at camp is and will remain the backup quarterback spot.

Mason Rudolph seems to have a grip in the No. 2 job, a position affirmed by his starts in each of these first two preseason games. Many fans have taken a liking to Dwayne Haskins, and Tomlin has warned not to count out Josh Dobbs.

It’s a simple reality that eyes almost are always on the quarterbacks. So no matter what happenagainst the Eagles, the performances of Rudolph, Haskins and Dobbs will be a talking point.

4. Shooting their shots

A handful of players who are longshots to make the team shined — as Tomlin would put it — “in the stadium” during the Hall of Fame Game. Making one play or having a good game can gain the coaches’ attention, but that can be squandered if that player follows with a clunker a week later.

Now, two games worth of strong performances in a row? Maybe there’s something there. Can any of the host of fringe players who raised eyebrows in Canton repeat it in Philadelphia?

Outside linebacker Jamir Jones and defensive lineman Abdullah Anderson, for example, accounted for a sack, four QB hits and seven pressures against Dallas. Anthony Johnson had three catches. Can anyone build off last week and “stack” two quality efforts in a row?

5. ‘Specially Pressley

It’s not often a rookie punter steals the show, but that’s what Pressley Harvin III did in the Steelers’ preseason opener. But he wasn’t the only aspect of a strong outing for the Steelers’ special teams against the Cowboys (backup kicker Sam Sloman’s struggles notwithstanding). The coverage teams were good, Mathew Sexton broke a long punt return and the punting unit had a takeaway.

More jobs than you might think are won on special teams. But for once, after what Harvin did last week, maybe fans won’t take their bathroom breaks during Steelers punts.

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