If you don’t get excited about Pittsburgh Steelers preseason football because you don’t get to see your favorite players enough, this is the game that could change your mind. Week two of the preseason is the game where the starters play the most and this season we expect a heavy dose of them against the Buffalo Bills.
Buffalo has already said they play to play their starters for the first quarter and half of the second quarter. We won’t be shocked if Pittsburgh plays its starters for at least this long.
Here are five things we really want to see happen against the Bills on Saturday night.
Everyone walks away healthy
This goes for both teams. There is nothing more agonizing than catastrophic injuries happening in the offseason whether it is training camp or a preseason game. I understand the necessity of playing these games but I still get tense when a star player takes a big hit.
Starting offensive line establishes the run game
Everyone else wants to see Kenny Pickett throwing bombs to George Pickens and I want to see if the starting offensive line and backs can go out and establish a long, sustaining drive backs by the rushing attack.
Steelers rookies ball out
This Steelers rookie class has been beyond impressive and exceeded expectations in many cases during training camp. Saturday we will finally get to see cornerback Joey Porter jr. on the field but we also want to see defensive tackle Keeanu Benton, tight end Darnell Washington, linebacker Nick Herbig and offensive lineman Spencer Anderson continue their strong offseasons.
Broderick take that next step
We didn’t include rookie offensive tackle Broderick Jones in the last list because his situation is something different. Jones was traded up to get with the expectation he would solidify the left side of the offensive line with guard Isaace Seumalo. It hasn’t happened yet.
Big games from the inside linebackers
The heart of the Steelers defense is the defensive line. But because that group is so good, Pittsburgh’s inside linebackers should be able to run and make plays with free runs to the football. Pittsburgh doesn’t have the starters set yet with all four of them fighting for a spot. We especially want to see more from Cole Holcomb this week.
