The Pittsburgh Steelers had a horrible showing on Friday night in the team's second preseason game of 2026. The team got shut out by the New York Jets by a score of 17-0, but the product on the field was probably worse than the scoreboard indicates. The offense struggled to move the ball consistently, while the defense got out to a bad start as they allowed the Jets' starting offense to move the ball right down the field for a touchdown. Pittsburgh had a few chances to put points on the board, but turnovers on the opponent's side of the field and a missed field goal made points hard to come by.
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Steelers' Mike McCarthy with his two quarterbacks before a home preseason game against the New York Jets in 2026.
Pittsburgh made a point that the organization was going to be focusing on its young talent throughout the rest of the preseason, which meant only Will Howard and Drew Allar would be taking snaps at quarterback. Howard started the game off while Allar took over for the second half. Fans were excited to see Howard get the start, but his performance was underwhelming as he turned the ball over twice and took a bad sack rather than stepping up in the pocket.
The quarterback had some nice throws and it seemed like he did a good job of processing and going through his reads, but the two interceptions are obvious stains on the stat sheet. He spoke to the media following the loss, and he was asked about what positives could be taken from the rough night.
"A game like this, I feel like it's hard to look at the positives," Howard said. "You know, there's always positives, but the issues are always there. The issues were there last week, but we won. It doesn't matter if you win or you lose, you've got to come out of it with a growth mindset. Obviously, when you lose and turn the ball over twice, it makes it feel a little bit more big."
Howard completed 10 of his 15 passes on Friday night for 74 yards. He looked procedural on some plays, but his two throws that wound up being picked off are going to be the sticking points in fans' minds. There is an argument to be made that the wide receiver on his second play should be at fault for his pick, but the quarterback took all accountability for the two mistakes.
Steelers Need To See Continued Growth
With young players like Howard, it is important to see growth both in practices and when he takes the field for a game. He played really well against the Green Bay Packers in the first week of the preseason, but he was unable to build on that in Week 2.
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Steelers' Will Howard throws a pass during his first NFL action against the Packers in the 2026 preseason.
The expectations were high for the offense as a whole and the unit was unable to meet them. Howard spoke about how the group didn't show the growth it wanted to on Friday night.
"Like I said, there are positives, but a lot of negatives as well," Howard explained. "We can't let this trip us up going forward. We have to continue to make strides. We didn't really make any strides tonight. And that's a shame. We definitely did not take a step forward tonight."
Howard is viewed as a player that is on the bubble of making the final roster, and he didn't help his chances with his performance against the Jets. He will likely see a similar opportunity in the preseason finale against the Buffalo Bills, and it is up to him to put a strong performance on tape to help his chances when it comes to being on the roster in 2026.
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