Some say keeping an even keel and not getting too high or too low is key to a healthy perspective on life.
And perhaps in no other realm is it more applicable than to preseason football.
The Pittsburgh Steelers and their fans are putting that mentality to the test through two weeks.
The relative jubilation of their two young quarterbacks’ near-perfect debuts during a 28-9 win against the Green Bay Packers on Aug. 13 was followed eight days later by a shutout loss to the New York Jets on Friday.
Will Howard and Drew Allar aren’t as good as their combined 142.1 passer rating in the former outing suggests — and they aren’t as bad as the 46.4 aggregate rating they posted in the encore.
The same goes for the rest of the team. Here are some individuals and units that had especially positive or negative performances in Friday’s 17-0 defeat:
STOCK UP
Mason Rudolph
In absentia, Rudolph arguably had the best night of any Steelers player who is seeking to nail down a spot on the season-opening active roster.
The Steelers always were going to err on the side of keeping Rudolph to serve as their No. 2 quarterback. His nine years in the NFL provide a comfort to the coaching staff that he could step in if something were to happen to 42-year-old starter Aaron Rodgers — as Rudolph’s 8-5-1 career record for the Steelers attests.
But there was always the looming possibility — however remote — that both of the Steelers’ young quarterbacks would shine enough that the Steelers might be compelled to move on from Rudolph.
That Howard and Allar combined to play a full game in which zero Steelers points were scored could do nothing but shake Mike McCarthy & Co. back into the security blanket that is Rudolph — if they ever even considered parting ways, that is.
Dynamic debuts
The 2024 Steelers were in part anchored in the middle of their defense by Elandon Roberts and DeShon Elliott. After those two — for different reasons — combined to play just five games for the 2025 Steelers, neither — again, for different reasons — were part of a full 2026 training-camp practice until this week.
Each, though, on Friday had the joy of playing in a game for the Steelers for the first time after a long wait. And each made an impact.
Finally fully recovered after knee surgery last fall, Elliott was cleared for full practice Sunday and started and played a quarter Friday. The safety had a forced fumble and four overall tackles with three solo tackles.
The only player on either team Friday with more overall tackles or solo tackles was Roberts, who had four solo and five overall despite not entering the game until the third quarter. Roberts, 32, signed with the Steelers on Aug. 13 after he’d spent last season with the Las Vegas Raiders.
Roberts made the stop on his first snap of the preseason. Three plays later, he made the tackle on a Jets’ fourth-down try. He had four tackles over his first eight defensive plays from scrimmage.
2nd-team defense
Though New York scored touchdowns on its first and last offensive possessions of the game, during the nine drives in between, the Jets managed a total of just five first downs and 143 yards.
The designation “second-team” is a loose one. The lines are blurred between who is part of what first-, second- or third-team unit at any point during camp, but in this instance it is certain the “starting” defensive group was on the field for the first two Jets drives.
Then again, with Cam Heyward. T.J. Watt, Jalen Ramsey, Joey Porter Jr., Jaquan Brisker and Brandin Echols not playing, the “first” unit Friday was half of the “second” team anyway. The so-called “third-teamers,” likewise, got into the act before the Jets’ final score.
Regardless of how you define it, though, generally speaking the Steelers defense did some good things Friday — at least, they did so after allowing Geno Smith and the Jets’ starting offense to march down the field and score after taking the opening kickoff.
STOCK DOWN
Offensive line
For the second game in a row, the Steelers linemen did not impress in either creating holes for running backs or in protecting the team’s quarterbacks. The raw numbers weren’t great: The Jets had four sacks and five QB hits, and the Steelers averaged 3.8 yards per rushing attempt with no carries of 8 or more yards. Just one rushing attempt gained as many as 7 yards.
The eye test might have been worse. It seemed as if Jets edge rushers and defensive tackles were too often setting up shop in the Steelers’ backfield. Tackles Broderick Jones and Dylan Cook seemed particularly victimized.
There must be some level of concern over the O-line being shaky in both preseason games.
Kaden Wetjen
Wetjen had a 74-yard reception and a receiving touchdown in his pro debut during last week’s preseason game. But McCarthy repeatedly — publicly, at least — came away unimpressed.
Wetjen was drafted primarily not for his play at wide receiver but to be an elite return man. And 10 return yards on two punts and none of three kickoff returns gaining more than 25 yards — Wetjen’s numbers against Green Bay — aren’t going to cut it as a fourth-round pick who’s a return specialist.
Friday, the raw numbers improved … slightly. A 15-yard punt return gave him a 7.3 average on four such attempts. (Although his only kickoff return was for 22 yards.)
But what trumps all is that Wetjen fumbled on a first-quarter punt return. The Steelers retained possession, and it was an unorthodox play and a nifty force of a fumble by the Jets’ Jeremy Ruckert, but that doesn’t change the reality that nothing loses the trust of coaches more than lack of ball security.
Laith Marjan
The impotent offense deprived Marjan, an undrafted rookie kicker, of placekicking opportunities in what might have been the lone full-game audition of his life for an NFL gig.
And the one chance Marjan did get, he missed. Marjan’s 44-yard field goal attempt midway through the third quarter sailed wide left.
Signed after the draft out of Kansas, Marjan never was going to beat out Chris Boswell to be the Steelers’ kicker this season. But he could have put something notable on tape for when some team — maybe even the Steelers, at some point in the future — is in need of a kicker.