This week the Pittsburgh Steelers welcome the Buffalo Bills to town for Week Two of the preseason. Pittsburgh won big last week over the Tampa Bay Buccaneers while the Bills beat the Indianapolis Colts. This will be the big week for the Steelers with only three preseason games, so this is the game you don’t want to miss.
Here are the big storylines to keep an eye on this week.
How much will Kenny Pickett play?
With only three preseason games, this is the game for the Steelers to play quarterback Kenny Pickett more and then scale it back again for the third game. Pickett was sharp as a tack last week in just a single series so the coaches might take it the other way and decide Pickett doesn’t need the extra snaps.
New wrinkles in the offense this week
The Steelers offense against the Bucs was efficient but nothing we hadn’t seen before. Pittsburgh has shown some new looks at training camp including some 13 personnel and backup lineman Kendrick Green catching the football. Will we see some of that this week?
Sorting out the inside linebacker situation
Last week, Kwon Alexander played like a guy who wants to be a starter and Mark Robinson played solid as well. Will this week be Cole Holcomb and Elandon Roberts’ turn to step up?
Filling in for injuries
Right now the Steelers have multiple defensive linemen and defensive backs dealing with nagging injuries. Good news for guys on the bubble trying to make the roster but it will force some new groupings this week.
Special teams to be special
Last week, all the backups played on special teams and this week we assume it’ll be the starting group. This means we can see if punter Pressley Harvin III has improved his consistency and we might even get to see wide receiver Calvin Austin III in the return game.
