Aug. 18, 2026, 2:54 p.m. ET
This Friday, the Pittsburgh Steelers take on the New York Jets in the all-important second preseason game. Training camp is all wrapped up and the team has returned to Pittsburgh. Here are the three big storylines we will be watching this week and what we hope to see. Improvements on special teams Last week, versus the Green Bay Packers, the special teams were a mess.
All those penalties made us miss former special teams coordinator Danny Smith. This week, we want to see much more disciplined play by the return and coverage units, even if it means trying different combinations of players. Just Will Howard and Drew Allar After last week’s game, we’ve decided the team shouldn’t bother to play Aaron Rodgers or Mason Rudolph this week. This game is a battle for the future of the starting quarterback spot and we want it to be all Drew Allar and Will Howard with Allar playing the first half and Howard playing the second. Running back rotation changes The Steelers have two quality running backs in Jaylen Warren and Rico Dowdle and the rest of the depth chart is a mess.
We want to keep a close eye on first: will Warren or Dowdle play at all, and if they don’t, can we see more of Kaleb Johnson and rookie Eli Heidenreich earlier in the game?
