After a shaky first two quarters, the Pittsburgh Steelers were able to explode offensively in the second half to come away with a 28-9 victory on Thursday night. It was great to see quarterbacks Will Howard and Drew Allar make their NFL debuts and lead scoring drives, especially the 2025 sixth-round pick. He missed all of his rookie preseason due to injury, so it was great to finally see what he can do against another team's defense while he looks to take over as the full-time backup for the 2026 season.
Jordan Perez / Pittsburgh Steelers
Pittsburgh Steelers quarterback Will Howard throws the ball during training camp in 2026 as Drew Allar looks on.
Howard's competition, Mason Rudolph, also led a nice, long drive in the first quarter into the beginning of the second quarter, although it ended on a failed fourth down conversion at the one-yard line. All in all, it was a typical preseason game: there were definitely some positives from all three quarterbacks, but each one still has some big issues that they need to work through in the coming weeks.
Head Coach Mike McCarthy knows that that's very true. In his postgame press conference, he spoke about one issue in particular that all of the quarterbacks seemed to have in this contest.
"The communication from the [out-of-bounds area], you're getting the play in there, tempo in the huddle, we're going to be better coming out of the huddle," McCarthy said. "I didn't think we were super clean."
With all the big moves that the Steelers had in the 2026 offseason like hiring McCarthy and convincing Aaron Rodgers to come back while trading for receivers, none of that matters if the communication falls through. There have been some issues with that throughout training camp, and they need to get cleaned up quickly. If not, this may be a very long season for Pittsburgh.
Of course, a large part of the first-team offense was not on the field for this game, but the point still stands. The running back should not have to try and block two pass rushers at the same time as Travis Homer had to early on in the game on one particular play. The first-team offensive line had some issues throughout their time on the field, especially the offensive tackles.
Harrison Barden / Pittsburgh Steelers
Pittsburgh Steelers offensive tackle Troy Fautanu (left) prepares for action prior to the preseason matchup against the Houston Texans in 2025.
The communication also has a big effect on the backup quarterback battle. Arguably, that is the most important facet as that could decide who gets cut and who stays. It doesn't matter that Rudolph has been developing well in McCarthy's QB School or Howard has become a quality leader if neither of them can get on the same page as their team. Whoever can communicate the plays better and break the huddle quicker will likely get to stay.
Steelers' Communication Could Have A Major Effect On Other Position Battles
During his time on the field, right tackle Dylan Cook did not look like the same player that stepped up when injuries took out everyone on the blind side in 2025. He got to get more reps thanks to an injury to first-round rookie Max Iheanachor, but that won't save him forever. There seemed to be some miscommunication issues with him, like the aforementioned play where Homer had to block two guys at the same time.
One thing that became clear in this game is that the final running back spot is wide open. Between Homer, Lew Nichols, and Kaleb Johnson, there were a lot of struggles when it came to running the ball. Whether it was due to communication issues, offensive line struggles, or just being unable to hit the hole, something was clearly off. Either way, whoever understands this language better and does the right assignment more will be on the 53-man roster.
What do you think about McCarthy having a problem with the communication and the inability to get out of the huddle quickly offensively? Do you think this is something they can fix by Week 1? Let us know on X at @Steelers_ChrisB.
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