The Pittsburgh Steelers left their Week 2 preseason game with more questions than answers. Nearly every little thing went wrong in a 9-3 loss to the Buffalo Bills. Neither quarterback looked like he was the right guy to lead this team throughout the season. It's still preseason, and there is plenty of time to fix some of these issues before Week , but panic has started to set in for Steeler Nation after back-to-back poor outings. Is that level of worry warranted, though?
Karl Roser / Pittsburgh Steelers
Russell Wilson during the Steelers' Preseason Week 2 game against the Buffalo Bills
Mark Kaboly went on X to talk about how the team around Russell Wilson was why he failed, as opposed to the quarterback himself. He did not have much of a chance to make anything happen.
"It’s the preseason. It was Wilson’s first action of the year. It’s the preseason. Wilson basically had a week of real practice all camp because of a calf injury. It’s the preseason. The Bills have a heck of a front seven. And, was it mentioned that it’s the preseason? The biggest issue with the offense wasn’t Wilson. Period. Turn the page. Believe what you want, but it wasn’t. The most glaring problem was the position that he was put in time and time again. Every quarterback in the league would struggle when the offense doesn’t stay on schedule like the Steelers were incapable of doing against the Bills, except for maybe Patrick Mahomes and I’m not even too sure about that."
He would continue on to talk about how mistakes from the receivers and the offensive line (mostly Broderick Jones) forced Wilson into multiple third-and-long situations, where he had to just check it down and hope that his receiver could barrel his way to the first-down marker, which they never could. He could never get into a rhythm, and the lack of practice throughout training camp did not help with that in the slightest.
Russell Wilson’s debut wasn’t pretty but was it really that bad? Not really
— Mark Kaboly (@MarkKaboly) August 18, 2024
By Mark Kaboly
Steelers Correspondent for Pat McAfee Show
PITTSBURGH — Do you remember when Kenny Pickett shredded the preseason (including the Buffalo Bills) en route to what very well could’ve been… pic.twitter.com/ovDAcyEmWx
The Steelers' offense was constantly set back by untimely penalties, drops, blown assignments, and Jones getting blown off the line of scrimmage. Wilson's main mistake, as Kaboly also mentioned, was missing George Pickens down the sideline, and he still almost made an amazing catch to haul it in. Even when they did get into field goal range, Chris Boswell proved that he was not in midseason form yet either.
Sebastian Foltz / Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
Steelers quarterbacks Justin Fields and Russell Wilson in 2024 OTA practice
Steelers Did Not See Enough From Fields Either
Wilson mostly played against the Bills' first-team defense. Meanwhile, Justin Fields mostly played against backups and scout team defense, and he still couldn't produce. He showed a lot of talent running the ball, but there was still more to be desired with his passing abilities. He helped lead the team in the two-minute drill to tie the game at 3 before halftime, but that was about it.
AP Photo / Matt Freed
Steelers' Justin Fields avoids a pass rusher as he throws the football.
The Steelers' defense played well enough for the team to win, but Fields failed in several attempts to put points on the board and take the lead. In his first two drives, with the help of the running game on one and an amazing play to Dez Fitzpatrick on the other, Fields got the team down to the red zone, but he failed to convert fourth downs on each of them. Wilson didn't look great, but Fields did more harm to the team than Wilson did overall.
What do you think about Kaboly absolving Wilson of all the blame from their preseason Week 2 loss? How do you think Wilson and Fields fared in that game? Let us know in the comments.
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