It lasted just short of three hours and had a little something for everyone. Whether you wanted to feel optimistic or pessimistic, or encouraged or discouraged, or even smug. It was all in there. And the best or worst part of it all – again depending upon your perspective – was the 24-17 final score that favored the Detroit Lions didn't count in the standings because it still was part of the preseason.
OK, let's begin with something for the optimists.
The Steelers got a chance to see their first-team offense resemble the unit that had been having such good practices at Saint Vincent College.
Russell Wilson quarterbacked the offense for 5 plays that covered 60 yards and ended with a 31-yard touchdown run by Cordarelle Patterson (more on him later), and included a third-and-11 conversion thanks to a 32-yard down-the-field pass to George Pickens perfectly delivered and placed toward the sideline but not too far as to allow the receiver to get his feet in-bounds easily. It was the exact kind of throw-and-catch so often seen in Latrobe but totally absent from the first two preseason games.
"We just needed results that are indicative of how we've worked," said Coach Mike Tomlin.
Check.
Patterson has been presenting himself as an interesting piece on the board, an option for Arthur Smith to incorporate into situations where he can do damage to opposing defenses. Since coming off the non-football injury list (hamstring), Patterson wears jersey No. 84 and was signed to return kicks, but hand him the ball and create a crease at the line of scrimmage – as LG Isaac Seumalo did on that first drive – and this 33-year-old still can stick his foot in the ground at top speed and make a defender look silly. If you don't believe me, check the video highlights on Steelers.com, or maybe just ask first-year safety Brandon Joseph.
The Steelers defense didn't have T.J. Watt or Alex Highsmith or Cam Heyward in the lineup, but Nick Herbig is sure looking like he's going to be a handful for anyone assigned to stay between him and the passer. Keeanu Benton, too. During three successive plays within the Lions' first offensive possession, Herbig recorded a sack, then Benton and DeMarvin Leal shared one when they collapsed the pocket from the inside, and then Herbig came flying around the corner for a strip-sack that Dean Lowry recovered at the Detroit 35-yard line. Six plays later, the 7-0 Steelers lead had become 14-0 thanks to their second rushing touchdown in the game's first 9 minutes.
"We wanted to get our starters some in-stadium rhythm that was kind of reflective of some of the things that we've seen in practice," said Tomlin. "We were able to do that. And as soon as we got comfortable with some of those things, we moved on to provide ample opportunity for those who are trying to find the one or two final seats on the bus, give them a space in which to do that."
Check.
Now, for the pessimists.
Coach Dan Campbell chose not to play 44 guys on Saturday, including just about every recognizable name on the Lions roster, and so everything the Steelers accomplished can be viewed through that prism. Who was blocking Herbig? Who was covering Pickens? Who wasn't rushing Wilson?
And still, the Steelers couldn't win the game. They finished 0-3 this preseason, with all of their defeats coming to teams that made the playoffs in 2023. It was their first winless preseason since 2013, their fifth sub-.500 preseason during Tomlin's tenure. Only one of those previous four seasons ended with a win in the playoffs, and postseason success had been made a point of emphasis by President Art Rooney II back in January.
As with everything that happens during an NFL preseason, this one ends for the Steelers having provided enough grist to support any side of just about any contention. As in: This will be the season the Steelers make a run in the playoffs, or this will be the first losing season of Mike Tomlin's tenure. Whatever your belief was before the kickoff inside Ford Field on Saturday can be your belief right now, and that doesn't mean you'll end up being right.
An NFL regular season is a 17-games-over-18-weeks test where the complexion of the league changes about every four weeks or so. Good can become bad and weak can become strong, and more than one thing can be true at the same time.
What this preseason finale says about the 2024 season can't be known until it's able to be viewed in the context of a completed regular season, or in other words, in the rearview mirror with the benefit of 20/20 hindsight.
The Steelers will enter the regular season with a starting quarterback who understands what it is to be a professional and is willing to embrace all of the other duties that come with that job description. Tomlin said he won't announce his starting quarterback until the end of the week, but anyone who comes up with a name other than Russell Wilson hasn't been paying attention.
"We'll make a decision at the end of our work week this upcoming week," said Tomlin. "We've got three days of Steelers vs. Steelers work. Why not do it then? It kind of minimizes Steelers vs. Steelers work when we start making decisions prior to the completion of that. We've got ample time to prepare for Atlanta and make whatever decisions or announcements regarding division of labor, or pecking orders and so forth. So we'll do it at the end of the work week."
Shortly after those words came out of the coach's mouth, Wilson was behind a microphone acting like the starter by being the encouraging leader he has been his entire career.
"I thought we did a really good job as a collective effort on offense, how we moved the ball," said Wilson about those 5 plays on the game-opening series. "Obviously, George doing a great job on that third-and-11 conversion. He ran a great route, great protection. It was a great team effort. I thought our guys, the No. 1s did a really good job of getting up and down the field, which is what we wanted. I knew that we were able to do that (because) we've had a really great training camp and OTAs and all that. So, we finally put it on the field under the lights."
That's the way Russell Wilson leads, by being inclusive and encouraging, and now he has that 60-yards-in-5-plays drive that ended up in the end zone against the Lions to give his words credibility in the minds of the teammates he's trying to lead. Put a check next to that item on the to-do list, too.
The defense should be able to take the field in Atlanta with a measure of confidence, because it took the ball away on its first possession, and forced a three-and-out on its second. And any attempt at mitigation of this performance by listing the players the Lions didn't use can be negated by the list the Steelers can provide of the guys they didn't use.
And so as Tomlin had said, once the Steelers got their front-line players "some in-stadium rhythm that was kind of reflective of some of the things that we've seen in practice," he largely pulled them off the field and turned things over to "those who are trying to find one or two final seats on the bus."
Come 4 p.m. Tuesday, we should know who won that high stakes version of musical chairs.
"So, (we're) comfortable with the agenda component of it," said Tomlin about the preseason finale, "but obviously didn't make enough plays to secure victory."
Hey, that's OK, because in the preseason wins and losses don't count in the standings. But today, the preseason is over. That means things are gonna change. Winning and losing will go from meaningless to all that matters, and standings will be kept meticulously to make sure everybody understands that. Things are gonna get real.
Starting in Atlanta on Sept. 8.
