Pittsburgh was first to get on the scoreboard in their first preseason matchup against the reigning SuperBowl champion Philadelphia Eagles. Landry Jones connected with Juju Smith-Schuster on a 71-yard touchdown connection, giving everyone a flashback of his 97-yard touchdown against Detroit last season.
Need Everything!!!! ???????????????? pic.twitter.com/V464jb9WVb
— JuJu Smith-Schuster (@TeamJuJu) August 10, 2018
Philadelphia was finally able to get on the board when Nate Sudfeld hit Dallas Goedert for a 15-yard touchdown pass, and running back Wendell Smallwood rushed up the middle for a 2-point conversion. Philly would take the lead over Pittsburgh, 8 to 7. The Steelers didn't take long to answer back, chipping away at the Eagles' defense and scored on their 11th play of the drive with a 3-yard Fitzgerald Touissant rushing touchdown.
On the Eagles next drive, Cameron Sutton made his presence known when he picked off Sudfeld on a pass intended for Bryce Treggs.
Cam Sutton doing work tonight. #vols pic.twitter.com/HY5YIdKbhz
— Freak (@vol_freak) August 10, 2018
Unfortunately, Pittsburgh gave it right back when Josh Dobbs was intercepted by Rasul Douglas on a pass intended for Damoun Patterson. Nate Sudfeld would then redeem himself after his errant throw on the previous drive, finding Shelton Gibson for a 63-yard touchdown. Philly now ahead 15 to 14.
As far as redemption goes, Josh Dobbs would get his, when he linked up with Damoun Patterson on an incredible 29-yard touchdown pass to put Pittsburgh back in the lead, 22 to 14 to end the half. By the way, Patterson is an undrafted rookie.
Undrafted rookie Damoun Patterson just landed a 10/10 backflip after catching his first TD on an @NFL field. ???? pic.twitter.com/mu9dqU5BZB
— The Checkdown (@thecheckdown) August 10, 2018
The second half would be all Chris Boswell and solid defense by Pittsburgh. Perhaps the most impressive defensive play of the game came by way of Olasunkanmi Adeniyi, as he opened up the second half with a strip sack on Joe Callahan.
.@Love_Ola_9 showing off them moves. pic.twitter.com/xgV7cBJiAW
— Pittsburgh Steelers (@steelers) August 10, 2018
After Keion Adams recovered the fumble caused by Adeniyi, the Wizard of Boz hit from 32 yards to give Pittsburgh an 11-point lead, 25 to 14. After some solid passing by Mason Rudolph in the second half, Boswell contributed to the Steelers lead once again with a 41-yard field goal, Pittsburgh now up by 14. Damoun Patterson helped put Pittsburgh in field goal range again, making the most of his opportunities in this game. Boswell was perfect tonight, and finished the scoring for the evening, now hitting from 38 yards to lead Pittsburgh to a 31 to 14 victory.
The Steelers showed some great efficiency on both sides of the ball in this one, Mason Rudolph lead the team in passing, finishing the night as he completed 7 of 12 passes for 101 yards. Fitzgerald Toussaint lead the team in rushing with 7 carries for 29 yards and a touchdown, and Damoun Patterson lead the team in receiving with 6 catches for 77 yards and a touchdown.
On the defensive side of the ball, Tyler Matakevich lead the team in tackles with 5. Olasunkanmi Adeniyi and Anthony Chickillo each got to a Philly quarterback for a sack tonight (Adeniyis' being a strip sack), and Coty Sensabaugh and Cameron Sutton each had an interception tonight. Overall, there seems to be a lot to look forward to in the remaining games of the preseason.
