Love connected with Jayden Reed, another regular starter, for a 19-yard gain on the first series. The Steelers forced a field goal, though, thanks to a pass breakup by cornerback Asante Samuel Jr. in 1-on-1 coverage against Reed just shy of the end zone. Rookie Trey Smack converted a 37-yarder to put the Packers on the board first.
From there, the Steelers didn’t allow a rush of 10 yards, and tallied four sacks. Jamin Davis, a former Washington first-rounder at outside linebacker, had two sacks, while mid-camp addition Israel Mukuamu came in on a safety blitz to bring down McCord on the final play of the third quarter.
“I wanted to make sure we were very cognizant of the line of scrimmage, playing the right way, play style,” McCarthy said. “I think we got off to a good start.”
Wetjen was the leading receiver, making both of his catches count for 79 yards. Nichols rushed a team-high 10 times for 36 yards.
Allar led the Steelers with 154 yards through the air on 10-of-13 passing, Rudolph was next with 93 yards on 10-of-11, while Howard threw for 86 on 7-of-9 passing. Steelers quarterbacks only let the ball hit the ground six times.
But plenty of flags hit the ground against the Steelers. Penalties were the most glaring issue, as the Steelers racked up 11 for 143 negative yards across all three phases and all four quarters.
“The obvious negative is the penalties are way too high, the personal fouls,” McCarthy said.
The Steelers resume their preseason slate next Friday, Aug. 21, at 7 p.m. against the New York Jets.