Oh don't get me wrong, I was pretty upset that first quarter. Our defense looked like dog doo wrapped in road kill. They made Trubiski look like Tom Brady. The missed tackles through much of the game was beyond frustrating. The mistakes were prevalent, on both sides of the ball. But then, as is often the case in the preseason, things turned around. The defense became more stout. Making some plays. Same with the offense. Suddenly the game is tied.
I kept hearing throughout the broadcast how these are young but very talented players and is the FIRST real NFL tackling action they have had as a team. Mike Rob said flat out, the film study they have tomorrow will be the single most invaluable thing to come out of this game for every single player. He also went on to say watch the difference between the play of this first preseason game to the second preseason game.
While I was disappointed Lock took that blind side sack and caused the turnover when we had a chance to win the game, ultimately I found a lot of positives overall. Sure, a lot of our rooks took their lumps tonight but you are supposed to when it's your first ever NFL action. Not worried.
The Steelers had better energy in the beginning which is typical when you are at home, and it's the first game to kick off a new season, preseason or not.
I won't go into player-by-player analysis. I will leave that up to those of you more football astute than myself. But at the end of the day, it was your typical first preseason game. Full of bad plays, mixed in with a fair amount of good stuff too. Never get too high or too low in the preseason. For instance, DJ Dallas looked like Marshawn Lynch tonight. He's a typical preseason MVP-type player. Regular season he always looks rather average. That goes for a lot of players across the league.
In the end, the game was just about what I expected. The win would have felt good but it's ultimately meaningless in August. All that matters is for the young bucks to look at the game film, see what they need to improve on, and do it.
I kept hearing throughout the broadcast how these are young but very talented players and is the FIRST real NFL tackling action they have had as a team. Mike Rob said flat out, the film study they have tomorrow will be the single most invaluable thing to come out of this game for every single player. He also went on to say watch the difference between the play of this first preseason game to the second preseason game.
While I was disappointed Lock took that blind side sack and caused the turnover when we had a chance to win the game, ultimately I found a lot of positives overall. Sure, a lot of our rooks took their lumps tonight but you are supposed to when it's your first ever NFL action. Not worried.
The Steelers had better energy in the beginning which is typical when you are at home, and it's the first game to kick off a new season, preseason or not.
I won't go into player-by-player analysis. I will leave that up to those of you more football astute than myself. But at the end of the day, it was your typical first preseason game. Full of bad plays, mixed in with a fair amount of good stuff too. Never get too high or too low in the preseason. For instance, DJ Dallas looked like Marshawn Lynch tonight. He's a typical preseason MVP-type player. Regular season he always looks rather average. That goes for a lot of players across the league.
In the end, the game was just about what I expected. The win would have felt good but it's ultimately meaningless in August. All that matters is for the young bucks to look at the game film, see what they need to improve on, and do it.