CANTON, Ohio -- The Steelers' preseason opener Thursday night was something of a referendum on how well the team addressed its issues with its running game in the offseason.
More to the point, it was an opportunity to see if the player mainly brought in to provide a running game -- first-round pick Najee Harris -- could be everything the team thought he could be when the Steelers made him the 22nd-overall pick in this year's draft.
Consider it a good start.
Harris rushed for 22 yards on seven carries behind a makeshift offensive line that included just one presumed starter and the Steelers scored 16 unanswered points in the second half in a 16-3 win over the Cowboys before 20,113 fans at Tom Benson Hall of Fame Stadium in the Hall of Fame game to kick off the 2021 preseason.
It wasn't so much how many yards Harris had rushing, but how he did it, often falling forward, even when there wasn't much there. The only time he truly got stuffed was on a 4-yard loss in the second quarter.
"I thought that he showed some of the things that he’s been showing in a practice setting," Mike Tomlin said. "And that’s what we were looking for; we weren’t looking for the spectacular. I talked to him and others over the course of the week. We wanted to make routine plays routinely. We wanted the pile to fall forward and things of that nature, and he did all of the things that we’ve been watching him do, so it’s a really good start for him."
That was what the 240-pound Harris did time and again in this game, despite running behind an offensive line that was, left to right, rookie fourth-round draft pick Dan Moore Jr., B.J. Finney, rookie third-round draft pick Kendrick Green, Rashaad Coward and Joe Haeg.
There weren't any household names there and certainly not players who have a lot of pedigree. Only Green is presumed to be a starter once the regular season rolls around, as left tackle Chuks Okorafor, left guard Kevin Dotson and right tackle Zach Banner all have yet to do much in terms of practice in this training camp, while veteran Trai Turner, signed last month to replace David DeCastro at right guard, was held out of this game.
"I expect to get a lot of people back," Tomlin answered when asked if there's a chance those linemen will return when the Steelers practice again Saturday at Heinz Field. "Again, we’ll continue to be focused on the guys who are working. It’s less about the guys who aren’t working and more about making sure that we’re getting good days and growth out of the ones that do. Obviously, we want guys back that have missed some time, but we’ll continue to remain focused on those that are working."
Just as important as Harris' running with the ball was his performance in pass protection. He held up in that phase, as well, though he didn't have as many opportunities.
That one will make the coaching staff happy, even if the end result was a dropped pass by Chase Claypool on third down from Mason Rudolph.
"I think I felt him pick it up, but I was focused on looking off safeties and trying to throw Chase an accurate ball," said Rudolph, who started the game and completed 6 of 9 passes for 84 yards, but also lost a fumble when he and Claypool failed to complete a handoff on a jet sweep.
With Ben Roethlisberger among the many veterans sitting out, Rudolph played into the second quarter before giving way to Dwayne Haskins.
And while Rudolph and Claypool had two plays where they didn't connect, they did do so on a 45-yard bomb that was the Steelers' best offensive play in the game. That came in the second quarter, as Rudolph stood in the pocket and delivered a pretty downfield throw.
Claypool got away with a little push on the play, but also appeared to bang his knee hard on the ground. He did not return to the game, but Tomlin wasn't concerned with the injury.
Dallas, which had converted the fumbled exchange on the Steelers' opening drive at midfield into a 29-yard Hunter Niswander field goal, took a 3-0 lead into the half, as Haskins entered late in the second quarter and also failed to lead the Steelers to a score.
That would change in the second half, as the Steelers forced a three-and-out on the Cowboys' opening possession of the third quarter and Mathew Sexton, a first-year player out of Eastern Michigan who did not go to camp with any team last season, busted off a 36-yard punt return to set up a 4-yard touchdown run by Kalen Ballage and a 6-3 lead after the PAT was missed.
Rookie safety Donovan Stiner then picked off Dallas quarterback Ben DiNucci, a former Pine-Richland star who began his college career at Pitt before transferring to James Madison, to set up a 48-yard field goal by Sam Sloman for a 9-6 lead.
Josh Dobbs, who relieved Haskins in the fourth quarter, then led a 32-yard touchdown drive after the Cowboys turned the ball over on downs when DiNucci's deep pass on fourth-and-1 was broken up by Stephen Denmark.
Dobbs, who was 4 of 6 for 37 yards, finished that possession off with a 5-yard touchdown pass to Tyler Simmons.
All told, the Steelers' quarterbacks completed 18 of 28 passes for 175 yards and one touchdown. They were sacked once.
It was a good first game for a team still learning a new offensive system under first-year coordinator Matt Canada, with the only real miscue coming on the fumbled handoff on the jet sweep.
"I thought they did a nice job, particularly from a play clock standpoint," Tomlin said. "New verbiage and things of that nature, first time in a stadium with a real play clock is very difficult for us to simulate in practice settings. I thought they did a nice job managing some of those things, but largely I thought all of their performances were positive."
TRENDING UP
• Ballage, signed as a veteran free agent to little fanfare in the offseason, continued what he's done throughout the offseason and into training camp with a strong game. He finished with 19 yards and the touchdown on five carries before exiting.
With Benny Snell sitting out with undisclosed injury, Ballage is making a strong push for a roster spot. Included in his runs was picking up 4 yards on fourth-and-1 in the third quarter.
"Good finish. High-energy big man is gonna be a catalyst for our running game and, really, our football team," Tomlin said of that fourth-down run.
And Tomlin was even more effusive when asked if that's a carryover from what he's seen in practice.
"Yeah, you’ve been at practice. It is. He’s been playing well," Tomlin said.
• Sexton put Ray-Ray McCloud on notice with a nifty 36-yard punt return in the third quarter to set up the Ballage touchdown.
"I thought Sexton was a big punt returner," Tomlin said. "I thought it ignited us. I don’t know that we had done much offensively until then, and it was like that was a springboard for us moving forward."
McCloud, the Steelers' punt returner in 2020, didn't get any chances to return punts in this game. He did play on offense early in the game and had one catch for 6 yards and one carry on a jet sweep for 2 yards.
• Pressley Harvin III did all of the punting in this game, and the Steelers' punting "competition" might be over, largely before it started.
With incumbent Jordan Berry watching from the sideline, Harvin, a seventh-round draft pick, averaged 45.8 yards per punt on four kicks. He dropped three of his punts inside the 20, including a beauty at the two-minute warning in the first half that was downed at the 1, right where it landed.
• Alex Highsmith had been questioned despite having a very impactful training camp because he has largely been beating up on Moore and rookie tight end Pat Freiermuth, who did not play in this game because of a shoulder injury.
But he was all over the field in this game, as well, making three tackles, including two for losses, and this sack before calling it a night early in the second quarter.
The Steelers had four sacks in the game, with fellow outside linebackers Cassius Marsh and Quincy Roche and defensive lineman Abdullah Anderson getting the others.
• The offensive line was and is a big question mark. But the line did a nice job in this one working against someone other than the Steelers.
The quarterbacks had time to throw the ball and though the Steelers averaged just 2.5 yards per carry, a large part of that came late because Jaylen Samuels had just 20 yards on 11 carries in the fourth quarter.
TRENDING DOWN
• Robert Spillane had his issues in coverage in this game. He finished with four tackles in the first half, but the Cowboys obviously game-planned at least a little for this game.
The Cowboys were motioning a running back out of the backfield out wide, and if Spillane went out there with him, that's who their quarterbacks targeted.
That's something the Steelers can perhaps scheme around when Devin Bush gets back out there, but Spillane one-on-one with a wide receiver or running back out in space isn't good.
• Sloman was signed to ensure Chris Boswell wouldn't have to do all of the kicking in this preseason. And he was more than just a camp leg, having kicked in the NFL last season for the Titans and Rams.
But Sloman missed a 49-yard field goal wide right and also missed a PAT.
Boswell's job is safe, but Sloman is auditioning for other teams. This was not what he needed, even though he did make a 48-yard field goal and PAT later in the game.
• Tight end Marcus Baugh had a game to forget. Baugh, signed last week after Dax Raymond was waived/injured, dropped the only pass thrown his way and also had a costly illegal block in the back call that negated a 9-yard run by Ballage in the third quarter.
With Freiermuth and Eric Ebron sitting out, that also meant more playing time for Zach Gentry and Kevin Rader, as well. Rader had one catch for 15 yards, but both he and Gentry failed to haul in passes that should have been caught.
• Isaiah Buggs played ahead of Carlos Davis at nose tackle with the Steelers sitting out their starting defensive line. But if he continues to make mistakes as he did in this one, that could change.
Buggs was the nose tackle with the second-team defensive end pairing of Chris Wormley and Henry Mondeaux, but he drew a roughing the passer penalty late in the first half on a play that resulted in a third down incompletion to keep a Dallas drive alive.
That won't make the coaching staff happy.
Rookie Isaiahh Loudermilk got a lot of action, as well, and showed up, drawing a holding penalty and making three tackles. You don't want negatives in this crowded defensive line group.
