RESOLVING THE LEDGER
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The Pittsburgh Steelers will face the Buffalo Bills in their preseason finale Thursday, Aug. 27 at Highmark Stadium in Orchard Park, N.Y.
For a handful of starters, the game will be a final tuneup before Week 1 of the regular season back home against the Atlanta Falcons on Sept. 13.
Most of the players we’ll see, however, will be fighting either to climb the depth chart or make the team at all. Here are some storylines to watch.
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Can Will Howard and Drew Allar get the good vibes back?
If the season goes as the Steelers hope, then this will be the last we see of both young quarterbacks in 2026. They’ll continue their development behind the scenes as Aaron Rodgers and Mason Rudolph take the controls for the regular season. It will be important to leave a good impression in this final audition if either has serious hopes of succeeding Rodgers in 2027. Howard needs to take better care of the ball following his two interceptions against the Jets that killed the little momentum the Steelers generated offensively. Allar will need to be better against pressure. He took three sacks in the loss to the Jets and averaged just 4.8 yards per attempt as downfield reads became a struggle. The performance evoked some of his worse moments from college that dropped him to the third round despite size and athletic traits that were good enough to make him a first rounder. Fairly or unfairly, consecutive duds from either or both will define perception about their ability to be the long-term answer for this franchise at the position. They need to produce much closer to the way they did in the preseason opener against Green Bay, when Howard led a two-minute drill touchdown drive and Allar was responsible for three scores.
Will we finally see Max Iheanachor?
The team’s first-round NFL draft choice returned to practice this week, ostensibly with the goal of seeing his first action of the preseason. He’s been out since about midway through training camp because of an arm injury. It’s likely, at this point, that he’s run out of time to mount a serious challenge to start Week 1. Former first-round pick Broderick Jones has struggled, though. He’s allowed three sacks through two preseason games. If he plays, Iheanachor will want to show that he can be reliable enough to get the nod over Jones should starting tackles Troy Fautanu or Dylan Cook sustain injuries at some point. That would be a successful first step for him considering the experience Jones brings to the table.
Can the first-team coverage group bounce back?
The defense generally had a decent night against the Jets, holding them to fewer than 300 yards of offense. Most of the guys responsible for that performance won’t be on the team by Week 1, though. The defensive backs who will be didn’t paint themselves in glory. Jets QB Geno Smith completed each of his seven passes en route to a touchdown on the opening drive of the game. In their 19 snaps, veterans DeShon Elliott, Asante Samuel Jr. and Jamel Dean were targeted six times and allowed six catches for a total of 67 yards, per Pro Football Focus data. In fairness to Elliott, he was the team’s top graded defender for the game. He had two stops, defined by PFF as plays that result in failure for the opposing offense. And he forced a fumble in his first extended action since a serious hamstring injury last season. Still, as a group, you’d have preferred to see more from these guys who will get extensive work in the regular season rotation.
Who will make a stronger impression in the slot?
Rookie receiver Germie Bernard was great in his NFL debut against the Packers with four catches for 51 yards in the first half. Then he was blanked on a single target against the Jets. Veteran counterpart Roman Wilson has three catches for 23 yards across the two games. And he was involved in both of Howard’s interceptions against the Jets. It’d be fair to say neither guy has definitively seized the starting role next to DK Metcalf and Michael Pittman Jr. with what we’ve seen in game action. Practice is always a different story – and chemistry with Aaron Rodgers will be a defining factor we’ve not yet witnessed. Still, it’s probably the most fascinating roster battle still being fought for this team right now. So both will be in the spotlight here.
Can the running game take another step?
Jaylen Warren and Rico Dowdle made surprise starts at running back against the Jets while other bigger veteran names including Rodgers, Metcalf, Pittman Jr., T.J. Watt and Cam Heyward all sat out. It seemed like a clear signal from coach Mike McCarthy that he wanted to see more from his team on the ground. Results were mixed. The Steelers improved their per-carry average by more than a yard to 3.8 compared to 2.6 in the Packers game. Their longest rush for the evening was just seven yards, though. A genuinely good night for this group against the Bills would go a long way toward building confidence.
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Will Steelers' Drew Allar, Will Howard play better in NFL preseason finale?
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