The Pittsburgh Steelers will soon be wrapping up their training camp for the 2023 NFL season as they get deeper into their preseason game schedule. Prior to playing their first preseason game against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, many fans were skeptical about the starting offense playing at all due to the obvious concern of injuries. Head Coach Mike Tomlin held a press conference on Thursday and once again stated that all healthy players are scheduled to play in the team's second preseason game against the Buffalo Bills on Saturday.
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Steelers Head Coach Mike Tomlin
Steelers' Starting Offense Expected To Play More Against Buffalo
Kenny Pickett and the rest of the Steelers' starting offense only played one series against the Buccaneers, which most fans were probably just fine with. Not much exposure to injury and the offense played amazingly efficient, scoring a touchdown on a 83-yard drive. This week against the Bills, Tomlin stated he expects the starters to be playing more.
"We'll play it by ear. I'll acknowledge those guys are going to play and they're going to play more. What that is as I stand here right now, I'd be lying if I gave you a direct answer."
Against Tampa Bay it was stated ahead of the game that Pickett and the starting offense would only be playing one series. Now, it looks like they will be on the field for two or three drives against Buffalo. Tomlin stated the team had more time to game plan for this match up than they did against the Buccaneers, so hopefully we will be seeing levels of the same success from the starting offense that we saw in the first preseason game.
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Steelers QB Kenny Pickett in preseason against the Buccaneers.
Bills Head Coach Sean McDermott has talked this week and said that they plan to play their starters, including Josh Allen, for at least the first quarter. It's possible Tomlin and the Steelers match what the Bills do so each team can get a good look at their players and get a better idea of what their team looks like. McDermott and Tomlin are close after all, they played college football together at William & Mary where McDermott was a safety and Tomlin was a wide receiver.
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Bills' Sean McDermott (left) and Steelers' Mike Tomlin (right) shake hands after their 2019 matchup in Pittsburgh, PA.
The Steelers matched up with the Bills in Week 5 during the 2022 regular season. It was Pickett's first start in his NFL career, and quite possibly the worst game of the Steelers' season. The Bills came out on top by a score of 38-3, it was so bad, they eventually began playing their back-ups. The game and final score was atrocious for Pittsburgh, but Pickett did end up setting a record in his debut. He broke the record for most completions in a quarterback's debut with the franchise. He finished his first start going 34/52 for 327 yards, while throwing an interception and having one rushing attempt where he gained 10 yards.
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Steelers' QB receives a late-hit from Bills Safety Damar Hamlin
It was a disappointing game for the Steelers, but one bright spot was seeing Pickett and the offensive line respond to a late hit on the rookie quarterback. On Pickett's lone rushing attempt where he scrambled for 10 yards, he slid and received a late hit to the upper body from Bills' safety Damar Hamlin. The two were teammates in college at Pittsburgh, but Pickett got up and started to defend himself while his offensive line came in to back him up. Steelers' James Daniels came flying in and knocked Hamlin to the ground.
This was when fans started to see the true leader and caliber of player Pickett was. His tenaciousness to fight back after the late hit and the way his linemen jumped to his defense with no hesitation reminded many of the way Maurkice Pouncey used to get in fights in defense of long-time Steelers quarterback, Ben Roethlisberger.
Despite it being just a preseason game, the Steelers' starting offense will be looking to bounce back against Buffalo on Saturday and perform better than it did against the Bills in the 2022 season. If Pickett and the rest of the starters can perform the same way they did in Week 1 of the preseason against Tampa Bay, the Steelers' offense run by Matt Canada might have officially found its' stride.
What do you think about Tomlin playing the starters for an extended amount of time, Steeler Nation? Let us know in the comments below!
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