The Pittsburgh Steelers finished their third preseason game of the season with their first win of the preseason. Of course, the wins and the losses do not matter, but what does matter is the overall tone of the game. For Steelers nation, the tone was calming with the thought that things will be alright as Ben Roethlisberger led the Steelers down the field for two easy touchdowns. Aside from Roethlisberger and Antonio Brown the Steelers had some names stand out in what is typically the most important game in the preseason to do so.
Pittsburgh Steelers Third Preseason Game Review
Winners
Le’Veon Bell
While it was nice to see Roethlisberger and Brown it was especially nice to see Bell back and healthy running the football after his ACL injury. Bell looked fine and showed well as a receiver hauling in five receptions.
Bell has always been a strong receiver and the Steelers opened the game in the shotgun formation, and at times ran five wide sets featuring Bell as a receiver. Roethlisberger had mentioned the formation in practice and with his skills, it is a scary set. They had success tonight so it will definitely be in the Steelers plan this season.
Javon Hargrave
Hargrave got the start in the nose tackle tonight and he showed impressively. Hargrave dropped into coverage again from the nose position and he took on double teams, swatted a pass later in the game and by all accounts has won the starting nose tackle job. He is looking like a stud out of the third round this season.
Eli Rogers
Tonight is a night where many Steelers could be winners, and a small mention of Landry Jones, who had a strong bounceback night deserves recognition. However, in the long term plans, Rogers won a starting wide receiver position tonight and will head into the season as a third receiving threat. Rogers started with Roethlisberger, Brown, and Markus Wheaton tonight. He caught two passes, both from Roethlisberger and then he went to the bench when the other starters were pulled. Rogers may hardly play in the fourth preseason game but has become a sleeper in fantasy leagues and is a breakout player to watch this year.
Losers
Sammie Coates
On a night where Coates caught a touchdown pass, he could be seen as the biggest loser. While Rogers was getting all of the snaps with the starters Coates was getting none. He played a bunch with Landry Jones, but in this game, the significant snaps were already had and he is going to head into the season looking to prove that he can beat out Darrius Heyward-Bey. Coates came into camp with an expectation to step in for the loss of Martavis Bryant but that seems like it is not happening anytime soon.
Daniel McCullers
McCullers was a late inactive and it was interesting to note because he has not been labeled injured recently in practice. As mentioned, Hargrave got the chance to start in the dress rehearsal game and one explanation could be that they wanted to see a full game of tape from Hargrave and decided that McCullers was getting in the way of that. He seems to be behind Hargrave moving forward, and with very limited snaps in his career, the question is if he will even have a role this season.
Injuries
The biggest overall downfall of the game for the Steelers was the injury bug. To start, it was a shame to see that Bud Dupree would not dress for yet another preseason game with a groin injury. Dupree is a second-year player and former first round pick but did not make a huge impact as a rookie. He is not to the point where these preseason games do not matter and it is going to hurt the Steelers if he is a bit behind in his progression.
Cam Heyward and Marcus Gilbert were also starters who went down due to injury in the game. Gilbert went out with an elbow and Heyward with a lower leg injury. Both were immediately declared out for the game which is obvious given the stakes. Heyward emerged with a walking boot later in the game but should be noted he was putting full body weight on that foot. There is almost no doubt both will be out in week four of the preseason, and the hope is both will be ready for the big show in two weeks.
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