Ben Roethlisberger and Joe Schobert got their first live snaps of the Steelers’ season en route to another one-sided first half, with some fireworks from all three of this year’s top draft picks.

Ben was the first in the saddle this week. He flashed shades of Vintage Ben on the first drive, spinning left then doubling back to the right. He found Ebron open at the sticks and delivered a very catchable ball, but Ebron was unable to complete the play.

Presley Harvin handled the punting duties, and his first attempt – which was covered well and netted 50 yards – was the only time his services were required. Jordan Berry was spotted stretching in the fourth quarter but he was not needed in the game.

The Lions’ first two plays went for first downs, and Minkah had two tackles after two snaps. After two plays knifing into the Steelers’ secondary to start the game, the Lions did nothing else against our starters.

Kendrick Green continued to be a bully in the ground game, often planting his blocking assignments into the ground, but was skated and spun around at times in pass protection. Ben connected with Johnson deep over the middle for 43 yards, and later busted out a pump fake that even fooled the KDKA camera operator before pulling the ball back and firing a high fastball to Freiermuth for his first NFL TD.

After the defense forced a three and out, Najee caught a pass out of the backfield on the first snap and took it down the right sideline for 46 yards. A few plays later Ben connected with his locker mate in the end zone again, another perfectly placed ball out of reach of anyone not named Freiermuth. Roethlisberger finished the night 8/10 with 2 TD’s and a perfect passer rating, and the team was 4/5 on 3rd downs under his leadership (the one was Ebron’s drop).

Mason Rudolph came into the game with about 2 minutes left in the 1st quarter, to what sounded like boos from the hometown crowd. We saw Derek Watt line up as a TE to get him out in space as a lead blocker. As the quarter expired, Juju feinted as if they were running a screen to his side. I don’t think any of the Lions bought it, but curiously enough the team’s first play of the 2nd quarter was a screen to Juju. Later in the drive, Juju narrowly missed pulling in a TD from Mason on a perfect throw into tight coverage.

Mason Rudolph is sneaky-good at drawing personal fouls. He apparently just has one of those faces that you want to bash with a helmet, and he got 15 yards the easy way again. He also turned a would-be sack into a 1 yard rush by keeping his legs churning as the pocket collapsed. Later, he missed another TD pass that would have been Freiermuth’s third of the night, had Mason led the pass a hair further.

HALFTIME SCORE: 20-0 Steelers

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An uncalled holding prevented Edmunds from recording a sack, but the Steelers forced their third three-and-out of the night. Matthew Sexton fielded the ensuing punt on his own 6 yard line, initially probed the right side, cut back to the left and found a crease that he rode for 47 yards.

Rudolph came back out to start the second half. Ballage was pushing piles, and McFarland ran like the Tasmanian Devil (what’s that old expression about a cloud of dust?) Juju spent some time in the blue tent after showing discomfort in his hand, but he didn’t appear too worried about it during his post-game TikTok dance. Mason made a bad decision trying to force the ball into the end zone, with four Lions standing in front of anyone in a black shirt.

Penalties were a point of emphasis in practice this week, and Mike Tomlin walked the walk by taking Loudermilk off the field immediately after he committed a roughing penalty. Spillane added to his run-stuffing resume, but continues to expose weakness in coverage to the tape. Jones and Allen combined for the Steelers only sack on the night.

Haskins came for fourth quarter. Ray Ray McCloud was able to bend a screen around a Cody White block that went for 30. Later, the Steelers failed to read and adjust to a Lions MLB stunt; two men came free, Jaylen Samuels could only pick up one, and Haskins went down for the team’s only sack. Boswell connected on a FG that pushed him to 4/4 on the night

The Lions’ final three drives – of 82, 77 and 54 yards – all went for TD’s. The Steelers’ “break don’t bend” strategy was a confounding shift from the shutout ball they had played during the first half. The Lions recovered an onside kick after the second TD, with Jones and Gilbert failing to secure the high bounce. Detroit kicked it deep after the third TD and tried to play clock ball, but they never regained possession.

Everyone including Bob Pompeani was expecting the Steelers to try and ice the game on the ground when they took over with 1:56. Samuels first attempt was stone-walled, but the second play they PA’ed to him and threw over the top to Tre Edmunds who had lined up as a FB. Good to see the Steelers playing fullback football again. Cue victory formation.

FINAL SCORE: 26-20

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Roster Prediction: I love the RB room of Harris-McFarland-Ballage. Edmunds’ ability to play FB should afford him at least a spot on the practice squad. I was unimpressed with Samuels’s effort on many of his reps, and wouldn’t be surprised if he finds himself on the outside looking in.

The Eagles took the ball first, and it seemed like they had possession for most of the first half. Devon Bush was burned early on a corner route from a TE and Jalen Hurts delivered a great touch pass for 34 yards. Quez Watkins got behind Cameron Sutton on the outside for what would have been a 98-yard TD, had he been able to run underneath Hurts’s pass.

Mason Rudolph was the first QB in for the Steelers. Juju made a tough grab working against triple coverage on the opening drive. Najee had a run of 6 yards after running through contact 3 yards behind the LOS and on the very next play slipped into the flat and caught a first down pass. Pat Freiermuth saw his first action of his pro career, recording a holding penalty on his first snap which wiped out a would-be first down run from Harris.

Mason clocked out completing 8 of 9 attempts. His one incompletion sailed over Harris’s head trying to check down on a third and 11. His long was a 33 yard toss to Johnson down the sideline. He took one sack, but it was a particularly bad rep in pass pro. Kendrick Green was skated backwards with a strong bull rush, Joe Haeg was beat with an inside rip move, and Trai Turner was slow to help both.

Our old friend Joe Flacco led the Eagles onto the field for the next drive. Watkins took a screen pass from Flacco for 79 yards to the house. An uncalled holding penalty on Jalen Reagor should have brought the ball back to the original LOS, but it’s preseason for the referees, too.

Another interesting chapter in the camp punting battle: Jordan Berry’s first attempt pinned the Eagles on the own 2 yard line. His next punt hit at the 4 and was downed at the 6 yard line. For the night he had 4 punts for 176 yards (44.0 average) including a 54 yarder.

Dwayne Haskins’s first drive was a three-and-out. He showed a nice escape from a heavy pass rush on third down, but overthrew a very open receiver for what would have been a first down. On the next drive he connected with Freiermuth for the TE’s first NFL catch, a 6-yard connection over the middle. Cody White caught two consecutive passes setting Pittsburgh up at the Eagles’ 6, and McFarland had a great second effort to cut back across the formation on a broken play and sneak into the end zone off the weak side.

Joe Flacco came back out with 1:45 in the half from their own 13 after a holding penalty on the kickoff. The first three plays were all passes for first downs; UG3 was beat in coverage by a TE on the first and missed tackling a check down on the third play. Spillane was also victimized trying to cover a TE on a corner route. Eagles kicker Jake Elliott was 3-3 on FG’s in the first half, from 47, 47 and 50. HALFTIME SCORE: 16-7 Philadelphia.

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Haskins appeared to be leading an energetic unit coming out in the second half. As efficient as Rudolph was in his outing, Haskins was not to be outdone and started 11-12. The 12th pass was a free play during which Haskins scrambled but kept his eyes downfield and found Anthony Johnson all alone in the end zone for a TD.

Two plays later, a Justin Layne pick gave the Steelers the ball back (pressure from Jamir Jones forced a bad throw). Haskins went 3-4 on the drive and Samuels had 3 consecutive successful runs, before plunging into the end zone from the 1.

Presley Harvin handled the holding duties during the second half, so he presumably would have also handled the punting, had the team needed a punter in the second half.

Haskins played through the third quarter and into the fourth before Josh Dobbs relieved him. Apparently the word of the day on the calendar in the QB room was “efficiency.” Josh Dobbs also only threw one incompletion on the night; unfortunately, that incompletion was caught by an Eagles defender.

Lafayette Pitts took the ball right back with another interception of Nick Mullens three plays later. The Steelers regained possession with 6:14 on the clock, and never gave it back. Petey Guerrero and Tony Brooks-James had a couple of chunk runs, and the team assumed victory formation for Dobbs to put the icing on the evening. FINAL SCORE: 24-16 Pittsburgh.

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My favorite stat of the night: the Steelers held the Eagles to 0-8 on third down conversions. I know, it’s just preseason, but pitching a shutout on third down is what separates good defenses from elite defenses. On the other side of the ball, the Steelers converted 11 of 17 third down attempts, despite their first third down conversion coming with 4:30 left in the first half (Haskins threw for it on 3rd and 1). They also converted three third downs on each of their TD drives to start the 2nd half.

Strange but true: the Steelers won the TOP battle 41:15 to 18:45. They had the ball for more than twice as long as the Eagles. Say it with me: BALL CONTROL.