{"id":979729,"date":"2026-08-22T02:21:18","date_gmt":"2026-08-22T02:21:18","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/979729\/"},"modified":"2026-08-22T02:21:18","modified_gmt":"2026-08-22T02:21:18","slug":"steelers-vs-jets-winners-and-losers","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/979729\/","title":{"rendered":"Steelers Vs. Jets Winners And Losers"},"content":{"rendered":"

Winners and losers from the Pittsburgh Steelers\u2019 Friday night preseason 17-0 loss<\/a> to the New York Jets.<\/p>\n

WINNERS
\nS Rayshawn Jenkins<\/p>\n

Jenkins made a living in the Jets\u2019 backfield. By halftime, he had already racked up two QB hits and a tackle for loss. One pressure and hit created an intentional grounding and loss of down.<\/p>\n

Jenkins is a hitter and tone setter. Pittsburgh wants a veteran backup behind its starting safeties, and Jenkins is looking like that guy.<\/p>\n

Also, a nice night for SS DeShon Elliott in his first game since last year\u2019s severe knee\/leg injury. He forced a fumble after LB Patrick Queen wrapped up the Jets receiver.<\/p>\n

EDGE Nick Herbig<\/p>\n

Herbig made an impact on limited snaps. Though he took a bad angle on a would-be tackle for loss, he showed his pass-rushing chops over the interior. In Pittsburgh\u2019s three-outside linebacker pass rush package with Jack Sawyer and Alex Highsmith on the edges, Herbig rushed over the right guard,<\/a> beat him with a cross chop, and forced a pressure and third down incompletion.<\/p>\n

Herbig has been the primary man off-ball in Pittsburgh\u2019s three-EDGE look, and if he can win with his finesse and speed, he\u2019ll be a problem for offenses.<\/p>\n

WR Ben Skowronek<\/p>\n

A nice night for Skowronek, getting the start with DK Metcalf and Michael Pittman Jr. sitting out as they progress from minor injuries.<\/a> Skowronek was the most reliable target in the passing game and finished with three catches. It doesn\u2019t do much to change his status or role but was still a good showing.<\/p>\n

ILB Carson Bruener<\/p>\n

Bruener was all over the field in the first half. He knocked down a throw over the middle from rookie Cade Klubnik and showed a powerful bull rush through RB Kene Nwangwu to take Klubnik down before the half. That helped push the Jets out of field goal range and end with a missed 59 yarder instead of three more points.<\/p>\n

Bruener\u2019s roster spot has been safe for awhile, but it was positive to see him make a slew of defensive plays beyond his special teams value.<\/p>\n

Discipline\/Lack Of Penalties<\/p>\n

Last week was a penalty fest for Pittsburgh \u2013 11 of them for nearly 140 yards. Things were markedly improved this time. Pittsburgh didn\u2019t officially get assessed a penalty until a Ryan McCollum hold in the third quarter (although Max Hurleman\u2019s OPI was declined on Will Howard\u2019s second INT).<\/p>\n

Things got worse in the second half with a handful of offensive line and special teams penalties but it remained a far cry of last week\u2019s slop.<\/p>\n

Overall, a cleaner and smarter brand of football. A progression point the second time out.<\/p>\n

S Robert Spears-Jennings<\/p>\n

Spears-Jennings is a gamer. A seventh-round rookie, he can run and hit. On Pittsburgh\u2019s first punt, he beat the single vice and forced a block in the back. Later, he separated player from ball with this big stick.<\/p>\n

Start to finish, he\u2019s had a solid summer. Still on the bubble to make the team but it\u2019s getting harder to leave him off the 53.<\/p>\n

ILB Elandon Roberts<\/p>\n

Typical Roberts stuff. A veteran who should look good in these moments, he threw his weight around and by the end of the third quarter, led the team in tackles. His play was highlighted by a great open-field fourth down tackle to force the turnover on downs.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s hardly a surprise, but a reminder of what he brings to the team.<\/p>\n

QB Mason Rudolph<\/p>\n

Even without taking a snap, Rudolph was a winner of the night. Will Howard and Drew Allar didn\u2019t gain any ground on him for the No. 2 spot. Instead, they squandered last week\u2019s momentum. It appears Howard and Allar will get one more long look<\/a> in the finale, but it will take a lot for the depth chart to change.<\/p>\n

I don\u2019t usually put players on here who were absent, but Rudolph feels safe as the Steelers\u2019 top backup should anything happen to Aaron Rodgers.<\/p>\n

LOSERS
\nFirst Drive For Offense & Defense<\/p>\n

Neither side of the ball got off to the start they wanted. Pittsburgh\u2019s defense allowed New York starting QB Geno Smith to pick it apart on a 10-play, 69-yard drive. Smith completed all seven of his passes and repeatedly found open targets, including on his touchdown pass.<\/p>\n

Pittsburgh\u2019s offense couldn\u2019t match. Two unsuccessful runs backed the Steelers up into 3rd and 9. Will Howard threw incomplete over the middle for WR Roman Wilson, and the Steelers trotted out the punt team.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s preseason, many starters didn\u2019t play, there\u2019s no game planning, all of the qualifiers matter. But Mike McCarthy wants Pittsburgh to set the tone, and it didn\u2019t tonight.<\/p>\n

WR\/RET Kaden Wetjen<\/p>\n

Ball security is job security, and Wetjen didn\u2019t come through Friday night. He coughed up a punt return after being tackled along the sideline. It was an aggressive spin down but ruled legal and Wetjen has to hold onto the ball in those difficult situations.<\/p>\n

He had a solid 12-yard punt return in the second half but the fumble still outweighs it. He also bobbled another punt return near his own end zone late in the third quarter.<\/p>\n

Heading into this game, McCarthy noted Wetjen\u2019s mental mistakes<\/a>. Adding a physical one like a fumble isn\u2019t helping his cause.<\/p>\n

QB Will Howard<\/p>\n

Howard had a handful of positive moments Friday night but two third-down interceptions in opposing territory write the headline. Howard never saw veteran S Andre Cisco on his first interception, staring down the throw to Roman Wilson for an easy Jets pick.<\/p>\n

Howard put together a promising drive his next time out, but it ended in the same result, a third-down pick on an over\/crossing pattern. Howard isn\u2019t showing enough velocity to truly drive the football into tight windows, a negative against him throughout his career. Even a fade to WR Germie Bernard felt floaty and was knocked away by the Jets corner.<\/p>\n

An early sack was partially on him for not climbing the pocket, even if Broderick Jones didn\u2019t have a great rep in pass pro either. Howard\u2019s pocket presence was up and down during the night.<\/p>\n

The odds of Howard grabbing the No. 2 spot seemingly went out the window with tonight\u2019s showing.<\/p>\n

Offensive Line<\/p>\n

As a group, the unit wasn\u2019t good enough. Running lanes were few and far between, pass protection was even worse, and the group added a couple of penalties. Ryan McCollum had one slow snap and a hold while Brock Hoffman picked up a penalty. Jack Driscoll struggled to defend speed off the edge and gave up a sack while Broderick Jones got cooked on an inside spin to allow a sack against a former UDFA. The starting group was okay \u2013 at best.<\/p>\n

Pittsburgh rotated at right guard and right tackle for the first few series with Spencer Anderson\/Brock Hoffman and Dylan Cook\/Broderick Jones working in and out. A sign the group is still trying to determine its starters.<\/p>\n

The quarterbacks never felt comfortable Friday night, and poor pass protection was one reason why.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Winners and losers from the Pittsburgh Steelers\u2019 Friday night preseason 17-0 loss to the New York Jets. WINNERS…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":979730,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2026],"tags":[1845,5854,7,4812,255,6313,57,9038,44626,691,1481,2183],"class_list":["post-979729","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-football","tag-carson-bruener","tag-elandon-roberts","tag-football","tag-kaden-wetjen","tag-new-york-jets","tag-nick-herbig","tag-pittsburgh-steelers","tag-rayshawn-jenkins","tag-robert-spears-jennings","tag-trending","tag-weekly","tag-will-howard"],"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/channels.im\/@nfl\/117136777753572154","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/979729","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=979729"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/979729\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/979730"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=979729"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=979729"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=979729"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}