CHARLOTTE, N.C. -- Pittsburgh Steelers head coach Mike Tomlin was hoping to see a clean, well-played game by his club in its preseason finale Thursday night against the Carolina Panthers.
Instead, he saw a team with plenty to clean up before its season opener in a little more than two weeks against the New York Jets.
The Steelers had costly penalties on their opening offensive and defensive drives. That ended up being a theme for the night as Pittsburgh was sloppy in a 19-10 win over a Panthers team that rested all of its starters.
Pittsburgh committed five penalties for 50 yards in the opening quarter and finished with 13 for 104 for the game.
“I didn’t like a lot of what I saw,” Mike Tomlin said on the broadcast at halftime. “We were highly penalized, we didn’t tackle well and we turned the ball over.”
Steelers punters Corliss Waitman and Cameron Johnston had punts of 35 and 33 yards, respectively, while running back Jaylen Warren fumbled less than a minute into the game. Warren then proceeded to slip on two straight plays and had to change his cleats after the first drive.
The Steelers star-studded secondary, with Jalen Ramsey, Darius Slay and Joey Porter Jr. all taking the field together for the first time, saw Carolina’s backup offense go 42 yards in 8 plays on its opening drive to take a 3-0 first-quarter lead.
Yes, there were bright spots, including the play of backup quarterback Skylar Thompson (11-13, 152 yards, 1 TD), receiver Scotty Miller (3 receptions for 82 yards) and nose tackle Yahya Black (2 sacks).
But going up against a Panthers team that rested all of its starters and multiple key backups, and with Pittsburgh playing several of its first-teamers, at least for a bit, the outing was disappointing overall.
Even the depth players struggled. Backup center Ryan McCollum, likely to make the team, was called for three penalties, including a false start that thwarted a foruth-and-inches opportunity.
The Steelers’ second-team defense blew a coverage late in the first half, allowing Panthers quarterback Jack Plummer to find Panthers tight end James Mitchell for a touchdown in the end zone.
Mike Tomlin prides himself on having a team that limits mistakes and plays smart. The Steelers have 17 days to put that kind of team on the field.
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