The Pittsburgh Steelers are playing in front of a home crowd for the first time this year in their second preseason game against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.
The Bucs have been in town for the latter half of the week to take part in a joint practice. It was a closed practice with strict media guidelines, but the information that came from those practices wasn’t promising for the Steelers. Their seven shots red zone offense was good, but otherwise, it sounds like they struggled both offensively and defensively in the practice. Baker Mayfield was originally scheduled to play against the Steelers today, but played so well in the joint practice that they are giving him the day off.
Meanwhile, Mike Tomlin is sitting nearly all his starters, taking the same approach as he did a week ago. The only notable starters who will be playing are younger guys like Broderick Jones, Troy Fautanu, Payton Wilson, Derrick Harmon and Keeanu Benton.
The progress of the run game, in particular, will be key to watch, as they have been criticized for their training camp and preseason performances so far.
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