Steel City Underground will pick an exceptional play of the game as a highlight each week of the Steelers 2023 preseason. Stay tuned as we hand-select the very best from the Black and Gold!
The Pittsburgh Steelers wasted no time in getting into the end zone against the Buffalo Bills in their second game of the 2023 NFL preseason. The home crowd at Acrisure Stadium was given quite a show from the opening moments until the final seconds ticked off the clock on August 19 in Pittsburgh, but it was an exceptional play on offense that got things heated up quickly in the 27-15 win over an AFC rival Bills team.
The Bills elected to kick the ball off after the coin toss. Tyler Bass‘ kick was returned by Anthony McFarland for 19 yards to set the Steelers up for their opening offensive series of the game at their own 14-yard line. Second-year quarterback Kenny Pickett handled the snaps in a string of plays that were a mix of run and pass.
On just the sixth play, Pickett took the snap at the Pittsburgh 38-yard line and handed the ball off to second-year running back Jaylen Warren on first-and-ten. With solid blocks from the offensive line – namely guards Isaac Seumalo and James Daniels, and left tackle Dan Moore Jr. – Warren was able to burst through the gap to the left side of the field. With an open-field block from receiver Diontae Johnson, Warren bounced past the locked-up defender and was able to weave around another, legs pumping, down the field and into the end zone.
The 62-yard touchdown run put the Bills, and fans, on notice that the Steelers weren’t taking the game as simply a dress rehearsal for the regular season.
“It was blocked up perfectly. I was untouched, which says more about the offense than it does me… That’s why I scored. Everybody else did their job, and that’s what made my job easy.” – Jaylen Warren
The touchdown play was the second time in back-to-back games that the Steelers came out and scored on their first offensive series. It would be followed up, almost immediately, on the next series of the game with a fast-strike pass from Pickett to tight end Pat Freiermuth that took just five seconds to execute for another score.
This illustrated a vast improvement from the 2023 squad over what the 2022 Steelers offense was able to accomplish through a majority of their regular season campaign, giving fans more than enough to be excited about as the final preseason game approaches.
