The Pittsburgh Steelers had a lot to be excited about after their 28-9 win in the preseason opener, but that all came crashing down. They got shut out 17-0 by the New York Jets, and there was not a lot to be excited about. Some individual players had nice games, but overall, the team did not do well as a whole. Obviously, it's still preseason, so it's far from panic time. Still, there are plenty of things to be concerned about, and it gives a baseline to all the changes that need to be made.
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Steelers' Mike McCarthy with his two quarterbacks before a home preseason game against the New York Jets in 2026.
Head Coach Mike McCarthy was not pleased with his squad after the game. In his postgame press conference, he explained what happened that caused everything to look so sloppy in this contest.
"The coverage part of it, the route running, the details and the execution, we just were not consistent enough tonight, and it showed up," McCarthy said.
Ever since he got hired, McCarthy has been praised for his apparent strong attention to detail in everything he does, and he specifically hired assistant coaches that he believed would match him in that regard. Clearly, everyone failed here, as there were so many little details that led to terrible plays from start to finish. The Steelers still have a lot to learn before the regular season begins.
The biggest story of the night, as usual, was the quarterbacks. Will Howard played the whole first half and finished with 10 completions for just 74 yards and two interceptions. On the first one, it looked like the defensive back read him like a book and easily jumped the route to end what seemed to be a productive drive. The other keeps being debated over whether it was his fault or Roman Wilson's fault on the route. McCarthy's point stands either way.
Barry Reeger / Imagn Images
Steelers' Will Howard throws a pass during his first NFL action against the Packers in the 2026 preseason.
When Drew Allar was under center, all the issues across the offense came out in full force. Between him having rookie moments, the offensive line collapsing, and receivers dropping the ball, nothing seemed to go right at all. Obviously, Allar needs to learn from this, but it's hard to develop a quarterback when guys are up in his face all the time while his teammates can't hang on to passes.
Defensively, there were some more bright spots, but not enough. The main negative storyline here was the coverage. Jets receivers were wide open a lot, which made life easier on all four of their quarterbacks while the Steelers did a great job of shutting down the run game. As nice as it was, run defense and punting should not be the stars of the show for any NFL team ever.
Steelers Have 1 Phase Of Play That Seems To Be Completely Unfixable
The offense and defense were both very concerning in this game, but they had also shown flashes of potential in the previous preseason game. There is still a lot to be excited about there, even if it was not on display Friday night. Hopefully, they can get into the film room and figure out exactly what went wrong and get it straightened out over the next few weeks.
The same can't be said about the return game. Kaden Wetjen was drafted in the fourth round to finally give Pittsburgh’s return game the spark it has been missing, but it just has not been there. He had a fumble and a muffed punt in the contest. He got completely outplayed by Max Hurleman, a receiver whose spot on the practice squad isn't even guaranteed.
While every other facet of play has shown something to be excited about, Danny Crossman's return unit has not shown enough in practice or in games thus far to garner the same enthusiasm. Hopefully for Steelers fans, the regular season will show something different.
What do you think about McCarthy being honest about the team struggling with execution and the details? Let us know on X at @Steelers_ChrisB.
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