Preseason Week Two Takeaways From Steelers vs Bills

Things to work on

 

Third-string quarterback Landry Jones still does not look comfortable on the field.  Jones followed Roethlisberger’s offensive sets, but blew his first attempt to run the offense efficiently by trying to thread Lance Moore a pass in double coverage.  The result was a Bills interception by cornerback Nickell Roby.  Jones was later hit by Bills defensive tackle Stefan Charles and lost the fumble going to the ground.  The result was that Landon Cohen was able to scoop up the loose ball, setting up the touchdown that tied the game at 13-13 entering the fourth quarter.  For Pittsburgh to feel comfortable having anyone other than Bruce Gradkowski standing behind Roethlisberger, Jones is going to have to find a way to get into a flow with the first-team offense.

 

Penalties – they kill momentum, period.  They can suck the wind out of any offensive or defensive series in a hurry.  (Mike) Mitchell wasn’t the only one that made a costly mistake.  On a third-and-three, (E.J.) Manuel threw a pass that Watkins never would have been able to catch, causing it to bounce off of his foot.  Unfortunately Steelers cornerback Cortez Allen put his hands on Watkins’ facemask coming off of the line of scrimmage.  Both plays resulted in penalties that gave the Bills first downs that could have been three-and-outs with tough defensive stands.

 

Shaun Suisham may not like the preseason ‘experiment’ by the NFL to move the placement for field goals further back as he uncharacteristically missed two in the game.  Also something to note: never force your kicker or punter to have to make tackles on special teams.

 

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