Aug 25, 2023 By Dale Lolley for The Observer-Reporter newsroom@observer-Reporter.Com 4 min read

ATLANTA – The Steelers finished their preseason in perfect fashion Thursday night, beating the Atlanta Falcons, 24-0.

In doing so, they continued to show that some of the hype surrounding this team – at least locally – might be warranted.

The first-team offense scored on its only two possessions in the game, making that unit 5-for-5 when it comes to scoring touchdowns in the preseason.

And it didn’t matter who they were facing.

Sure, the Falcons were playing their backups. But that’s no different than scouts trying to assess college players at the Division II or III levels. If you’re worthy of being a player NFL teams should look at, you should look like men playing against boys.

The Steelers did that Thursday, holding a 220-8 advantage in total yards in the first half when they scored for the final time to make it 24-0 in the second quarter.

And their starters were only out there for part of that dominance.

The point is, the Steelers rolled through their preseason in impressive fashion regardless of who they were, or weren’t, playing against.

Remember, Buffalo was playing its starters two weeks ago when the Steelers had their way with the Bills. And the Bills are considered one of the top teams in the NFL.

But if you’re playing against a bunch of JAGs (Just Another Guy) as they were against the Falcons, you’d better dominate if you’re any good. And they did that.

n Kenny Pickett completed the preseason 13 of 15 for 199 yards with two touchdowns. That was good for a passer rating of 158.3, which is the highest a quarterback can get in the NFL.

After averaging 6.2 yards per pass attempt last season, he averaged 13.2 yards per attempt this preseason. And he put those numbers up in a variety of ways, completing passes over the middle of the field in the Steelers’ first two games and outside the numbers in the win over the Falcons as he hit Diontae Johnson and George Pickens for gains of 33 and 35 yards, respectively.

This looks like it might be a much-improved offense.

“It’s proof that all the work that we put in paid off and we had a good preseason,” Pickett said. “But, obviously, now it counts.”

The Steelers have 17 days off between their final preseason game and when they open Sept. 10 against San Francisco. That will offer a lot of time to study San Francisco.

n Just a reminder that in the last two season openers, the Steelers have gone into Buffalo and Cincinnati as big underdogs and come away winners.

The Steelers remain underdogs at home in their opener.

n Calvin Austin III is going to be a weapon for the Steelers on special teams.

He averaged 13.3 yards per punt return on four attempts against the Falcons, including breaking off a 21-yard return to set up the second touchdown.

The Steelers haven’t had a dynamic punt returner since Diontae Johnson’s rookie season in 2019, when he led the NFL in return average, something that hadn’t happened since the 1960s.

Austin has the ability to do that.

n Every time rookie outside linebacker Nick Herbig walks to the sideline in a game, he sidles up next to T.J. Watt.

That’s smart.

Herbig finished the preseason with 3.5 sacks. He’s good.

Imagine what the Steelers can do defensively if the offense gives it a few more leads than it has the past couple of seasons.

n Imagine what this running game can produce if opponents have to be concerned about the Steelers completing more passes downfield as they did throughout this preseason.

The Steelers faced loaded fronts – eight or more players – on the seventh-highest percentage in the NFL last season.

If they can get the safeties out of the box, the duo of Najee Harris and Jaylen Warren will be a major issue for opposing defenses.

n With the Steelers’ preseason finale not until late in the day on Thursday, I had the opportunity to check out the College Football Hall of Fame in Atlanta.

Let’s just say the area was well represented.

From the 1928 Washington & Jefferson jersey that was on display to the exhibits for Barry Alvarez and John Luckhardt, among others, there were plenty of highlights for someone from Southwestern Pa. to take in.

I spent a couple of hours there Thursday morning and easily could have spent more.