2024-08-18 11:20:02
Backup Justin Fields didn’t fare much better, as the Steelers produced just 219 yards in a 9-3 loss to the Bills Saturday night at Acrisure Stadium.
The loss drops the Steelers to 0-2 in the preseason, and perhaps puts more urgency into next Saturday’s preseason finale at Detroit.
“It was still not what we’re looking for,” said Steelers head coach Mike Tomlin. “It was better in some areas, but still JV in some others.”
Though Wilson and Fields combined to complete 19 of 27 passes, they went for just 139 yards.
Wilson, signed in the offseason as a free agent, was seeing his first action of the preseason after dealing with a calf injury suffered during the team’s conditioning drill at training camp.
The nine-time Pro Bowl quarterback was pressured early and often, as Buffalo defensive end Gregory Rousseau sacked him twice on his own and shared another with defensive tackle Ed Oliver on the Steelers’ first three possessions.
“We didn’t do a good enough job of protecting the quarterback,” Tomlin acknowledged. “We’ve got to do a better job in pass protection that we did, not only on possessions downs, but just in general. That can’t be a problem for us
Fortunately for the Steelers, who did not play outside linebackers T.J. Watt and Alex Highsmith along with defensive tackle Cam Heyward, the Bills also chose to sit quarterback Josh Allen after rain storms drenched the field at Acrisure Stadium prior to the start of the game.
In his absence, former Steelers quarterback Mitch Trubisky started for the Bills, and it was a Trubisky mistake that led to the game’s first scoring opportunity.
After both teams traded multiple punts in the first quarter, Trubisky, who had been sacked twice in the first quarter, was pressured into an errant throw on Buffalo’s second possession of the second quarter and picked off by safety Miles Killebrew at the Pittsburgh 42.
