The action couldn’t be hotter at the Steelers annual Friday Night Lights Practice at Latrobe Memorial Stadium — but the offense looked ice cold during the seven-shots drill of the day, courtesy of a fiery Pittsburgh defense.
On the first attempt of the drill, Aaron Rodgers attempted a pass to DK Metcalf but Darius Slay was there in coverage to cause the play to backfire — defense moved up 1-0.
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Rookie RB Kaleb Johnson attempted a run from shotgun on the next attempt, but was held up by LB Payton Wilson — putting the defense ahead 2-0.
On the third play, Rodgers threw a pass towards Pat Freiermuth, but Slay broke up the pass — resulting in the defense furthering their lead to 3-0.
Mason Rudolph would take over at quarterback and attempt a pass to Scotty Miller — but the wideout couldn’t get his feet down and it resulted in a defensive win of 4-0.
The drill continued despite the strong defensive statement, resulting in three straight offensive scores: one from Johnson and two from QB Will Howard to RB Kenneth Gainwell and TE Kevin Folesch. The damage was already done, however, as the defense was up 4-3 at the conclusion of seven-shots.
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Fans should take the offensive struggles over the past few practices with a grain of salt — as many of these issues will (hopefully) be ironed out by the regular season, while the defense should be commended for its strong performances in Latrobe.
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This article originally appeared on Steelers Wire: Steelers defense dominates offense at Friday Night Lights Practice