For about 58 minutes there was a clear winner and a clear loser in the Steelers’ QB competition Saturday night in their 16-15 win over the Jaguars.
Kenny Pickett – codename: Papa Bear – won the night by throwing two TD’s (one was wiped off the board by off-setting penalties). The one that counted went to RB Benny Snell with a nice RAC and dive for the pylon; combined with a strong ST tackle Snell likely solidified his roster spot tonight.
Mitch Trubisky was the Goldilocks of the night: not too hot, not too cold. He showed impressive elusiveness with very little help from his OL facing a pass rush featuring OLB’s Josh Allen and 2022 #1 overall draft pick Travon Walker. A 20-yard hookup to WR Diontae Johnson on a quick-hitting slant was his longest completion of the night. A slot-fade to WR Chase Claypool – who finished with an athletic combat catch – was his only other notable pass.
Mason Rudolph ended his first drive throwing a potential hospital ball to WR George Pickens over the middle. His second drive at the con resulted in a safety after he was flagged for intentional grounding in his own end zone. Until the Steelers’ final possession Mason was firmly the Baby Bear.
WR Tyler Vaughns had three catches (and a couple strong RAC’s) for 51 yards on that drive. On 4th and Goal from the 1 Mason found WR Tyler Snead on a quick out to take their first lead of the game.
Jacksonville got close enough to attempt a 57-yard FG in the final seconds of the contest. It had plenty of leg but fell wide right. FINAL SCORE: 16-15 PIT
OTHER GAME NOTES
The starting base corners were Cam Sutton and Ahkello Witherspoon. In Nickel, Levi Wallace played outside and Sutton kicked inside to the slot.
OLB TJ Watt recorded a sack in his first action of the preseason, zipping right around the edge with a speed rush to get to Jags QB Trevor Lawrence. Lawrence picked apart the Steelers first-team coverages but was unable to find the end zone.
CB Justin Layne pulled in a late INT and added a nifty run-back to boot. He was a guy I was eying as a potential roster casualty so the team could keep an extra D-lineman but he made himself a bit harder to cut tonight.
Steely Cam 