SHOCKING MISCUES COST STEELERS: Roman Wilson & Rookies Shine, But Crucial Mistakes Lead to Devastating Loss

A lot happened early. Three first-quarter touchdowns, in fact.

After that, not much. Not … much … at … all.

Such is the result in a lot of preseason games. That was especially true between the Steelers and Tampa Bay Buccaneers on Saturday night at Acrisure Stadium.

The biggest takeaway from the Steelers’ 17-14 loss is that it’s over, and there is only one more of these tedious preseason exercises to go before the 2025 regular season begins.

Thankfully.

Plus, we only have to wait five more days before that happens in Charlotte.

So, while there wasn’t an overriding theme from a team perspective in either direction, there are some individual points to highlight — or try to bury — in the week’s “Feats Of Strength” and “Airing of Grievances.”

FEATS OF STRENGTH

Roman and Rudolph: After a costly misfire early (we’ll get to that), Mason Rudolph and Roman Wilson hooked up on a 42-yard bomb.

Rudolph then threw a nice fade to Brandon Johnson that drew a pass-interference penalty. That placed the ball at the goal line. His next pass was a bullet to Max Hurleman, who dropped the potential touchdown.

However, Rudolph eluded a rush and went to Johnson again on second down. This time, the scoring attempt connected, and the Steelers cut a 14-0 deficit in half.

Wilson later caught a 30-yard pass from Skylar Thompson to give hope to Steelers fans that he may be able to make a positive impact this season after missing all but one game a year ago.

“He’s had a good camp,” coach Mike Tomlin said of Wilson. “He’s backed that up with some good in-stadium play. I feel good about the overall trajectory for him.”

(Re)Draw the line: The Steelers defense pushed back the line of scrimmage a bit more than they did in their first preseason game in Jacksonville. Rookie Derrick Harmon stuffed a run play for no gain and collected a sack.

Also, Chuck Clark, Juan Thornhill and Malik Harrison all were credited with tackles for a loss in the first half. Eku Leota had two in the second half.

Tampa only averaged 3.8 yards per play. The Bucs had a mere 41 yards on 24 rushing attempts.

If at first you don’t succeed: In the first half, it was another struggle for Kaleb Johnson — and for the Steelers’ run game in general.

The rookie running back did pop a 14-yard run for a nice highlight. However, his next four carries netted just 2 yards.

In the second half, though, Johnson found a rhythm. He ended up with 50 yards on 11 carries for a 4.5 yards-per-carry average after getting just 20 yards on eight carries versus the Jaguars.

“I was timid (in Jacksonville) reading the flow of my linemen and connecting with them,” Johnson said. “I was talking all week about how I should be executing and doing better — progressing and developing over time. I feel like I did that.”

The Iowa product also accounted for a 34-yard kick return.

Early in the game, the Steelers didn’t run often, and they didn’t run well. Their first 10 carries only resulted in 31 yards. Thirteen of them were from Rudolph and Thompson. But the offense ended up with 130 yards rushing on 26 carries.

AIRING OF GRIEVANCES

Rocky start: Rudolph threw a pick on the second pass of the game. Wilson was the intended receiver on a throw up the numbers.

But Wilson didn’t have much separation to speak of, and Rudolph was intercepted by Zyon McCollum.

“The DB made a good play. I was late to the scene,” Rudolph said. “He overlapped in Cover 3 and made a good play. I’ve got to be quicker or check the ball down.”

Rudolph ended up 3 of 5 for 46 yards, a touchdown and an interception.

Costly snafu: On Tampa Bay’s second possession, Teddy Bridgewater hit Jalen McMillan for an 18-yard completion on a third down. From there, though, the Steelers’ defense stalled the drive.

It appeared that the Bucs were going to have to settle for a 43-yard field goal. But on Chase McLaughlin’s successful attempt, D’Shawn Jamison obviously ran into him, drawing a penalty flag and an automatic first down.

Tampa Bay elected to take the points off the board and put the offense back on the field. Bridgewater cashed in the mistake with a 13-yard touchdown pass to Bucky Irving.

On the play, Irving beat Payton Wilson. The second-year linebacker referred to himself as “one of the best coverage linebackers in the world” last month.

The special teams also allowed a 37-yard punt return by Tez Johnson in the first half.

However, both punters were good again. Corliss Waitman averaged 58 yards per punt on three tries, including one that resulted in a muffed return that was recovered by Max Hurleman. The turnover led to a touchdown by Trey Sermon.

Meanwhile, Cameron Johnston dropped two punts inside the 20-yard line. His longest was 49 yards.

And, to be fair to Jamison, he did atone for that penalty by forcing a fumble in the fourth quarter.

Not as lucky: Last week, Tomlin praised his team for avoiding pre-snap penalties, turnovers and injuries.

In this game, there were at least three pre-snap penalties. Rudolph, Thompson and Logan Woodside were all guilty of interceptions. And the Steelers did suffer a few injuries of note.

Outside linebacker Nick Herbig pulled a hamstring, and long snapper Christian Kuntz was sidelined with a chest injury. After the game, Tomlin said they got “good news” on Kuntz, and he didn’t seem concerned about Herbig.

Logan Lee had to absorb the long snapping duties for Kuntz. The second-year defensive lineman hadn’t taken on that task since high school.

His first try on an extra point appeared to be a little low, but Johnston handled it for a clean hold and a successful kick. From there, Lee was solid.

“It went fairly well. There were a few that were a little slow or a little wobbly, but we’ll take it in a pinch,” Lee said.

By the way, hold-in or not, Chris Boswell handled the kickoff duties. Ben Sauls attempted all the place kicks, including a costly late-game, missed field goal.

Virtually useless: The first attempt at a virtual measurement at Acrisure Stadium was a bust.

In the first quarter, Rudolph scrambled on a third down. He needed 8 yards and clearly came up about a yard short.

Yet it was determined that a measurement was needed anyway. Eventually, the scoreboard showed a graphic that the ball was short. But it took long enough that the chain gang probably could’ve come on and off the field four times in the span that it took to announce a measurement that even people in the 500-section could tell was short.

Maybe it was just an experiment. If it was, it was clunky and poorly executed.

Ironically, later in the game, the Steelers seemed to get a very generous spot on a first down by Connor Heyward, but no measurement was triggered.

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