Steelers preseason opener winners, losers: Debuting QBs shine vs Packers

The Steelers picked up a 28-9 victory against the Green Bay Packers in their preseason opener Aug. 14 at Acrisure Stadium.  It was a big night for quite a few players clad in black & gold, particularly Aaron Rodgers’ backups at quarterback. Mason Rudolph started the night completing 10 of 11 passes for 93 yards. Then younger teammates Will Howard and Drew Allar put up impressive numbers of their own in their respective NFL debuts.  REQUIRED READING: No tackling! Steelers hope gentler camp helps end playoff flameouts | Opinion The evening wasn’t without its flaws, though. Coach Mike McCarthy’s team was flagged 11 times for 134 yards, a major reason the game was close until the early fourth quarter.  Here’s a look at the winners and losers from the Steelers' preseason opener.  Steelers preseason opener winners Will Howard and Drew Allar It’s hard to distinguish between Allar and Howard because both played so well. Allar put up the bigger stats, completing 10 of 13 passes for 153 yards and a pair of touchdowns through the air. He also scored one himself on the ground following his biggest completion of the night, a 74-yard completion to Kaden Wetjen. Much of his production came against third and fourth teamers, but it’s never a bad sign to see a player dominate in that situation. Howard, meanwhile, ran a nearly flawless two-minute drill to give the Steelers the lead before halftime. After three straight runs left the Steelers with a fourth-and-1 deep in their own territory, Howard hit a clutch throw to Ben Skowronek for 17 yards up to the Pittsburgh 46. The next three plays — all Howard passes — went for 16, 15 and 22 yards. The last of them was a screen to Robert Tonyan that nearly became Howard’s first NFL touchdown before replay ruled Tonyan down just short of the end zone. It was a composed demonstration under some time pressure. Exactly what he’d probably been wanting to show in the 2025 preseason, which he missed entirely because of injury.  Kaden Wetjen Fans and observers alike were perplexed when GM Omar Khan selected the former Iowa receiver in the fourth round of the draft this year. His skill set appears rather niche on paper. He had just 20 catches for 151 yards and a touchdown in his final college season. It was his return skills that got him to the NFL. He averaged 26.8 yards per punt return in 2025, a number that dwarfs even the best production from any team in the NFL. Thursday night, however, he took his first pass from Allar 74 yards to set up the quarterback’s rushing touchdown. Then he scored one of his own on a five-yard pass to give the Steelers a 21-9 lead in the fourth quarter. Add that kind of passing game utility to his return game skills, and he could quickly become a fixture for this team for years to come.  Germie Bernard The team’s second-round pick from Alabama was involved early and often. He had four catches for 51 yards in the first half. The most impressive was a 25-yard gallop along the sideline on which he broke a couple of tackles for some yards after the catch. He was notably louder than teammate Roman Wilson, who had just one catch for seven yards. The two are competing for the slot receiver job with Michael Pittman Jr. and DK Metcalf set to man the outside spots. Thursday night won’t necessarily put Bernard ahead of Wilson. Rodgers will have something to say about that when the wins and losses begin to matter. Still, the rookie did exactly what he needed to do to keep himself in the conversation for early playing time. Steelers preseason opener losers Troy Fautanu and Dylan Cook The team’s starters at left and right tackle, respectively, had a rough night. Cook was beaten badly on a sack of Rudolph on the second drive of the game. Then Fautanu was flagged twice on the same drive. One penalty was a false start, the second a backbreaking holding penalty that took a touchdown by Lew Nichols off the board. Cook, in particular, was probably lucky that first-round draft pick Max Iheanachor was out injured to avoid direct comparisons between their play. Regardless of their depth chart standing, though, it’s not a good early look for a duo that needs to protect a 42-year-old at QB when the regular season begins. The offensive line is expected to take a big step this year, and it can’t if its outside blockers don’t execute better.  Kaleb Johnson Pittsburgh's third-round draft pick in 2025 was practically invisible. He had just two carries for a total of three yards. With top running backs Jaylen Warren and Rico Dowdle sitting out, he was still out-carried by Nichols (10 carries, 36 yards), Eli Heidenreich (nine carries, 21 yards) and Travis Homer (four carries, eight yards). That kind of production is an ill omen for his chances to make the 53-man roster. It would be a stunning outcome for a back who was genuinely great at a run-first program in Iowa. He totaled 1,537 yards and 21 touchdowns in his final season with the Hawkeyes in 2024, but clearly has not been able to make that success translate in the NFL enough to get McCarthy’s attention in a positive way.  Mason Rudolph He did everything he could in the game. And yet, it’s going to be hard to justify a roster spot for him if Howard and Allar continue to play this well. Rudolph had numerous chances to prove that he could be this team’s long-term answer at quarterback going back to Ben Roethlisberger’s elbow injury in 2019. Each time, the Steelers have preferred to go another direction. Why would or should that change now? The best argument he has to stay is his proven ability to steady the offensive ship as an experienced veteran should Rodgers go down. But if Howard and Allar keep showing this kind of potential upside, then the Steelers would probably be willing to live with whatever growing pains they bring as backups with an eye toward one of them taking over for Rodgers in the future. It must be a pretty helpless feeling for the 31-year-old Rudolph.  This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Steelers preseason opener winners, losers: Debuting QBs shine vs Packers