Takeaways from the Steelers Preseason opener

They won, but that is secondary to the important things in preseason football.

There are two main things that I care about when it comes to preseason football above all others.

1. Do not play anybody that you do not need to play.

2. Of the players you do play, hope that nobody gets injured.

The Pittsburgh Steelers mostly accomplished that in their 27-17 preseason opening win against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers on Friday night.

Once you get beyond those two things, everything needs to be taken with a complete grain of salt. Gameplans are basic, nobody is playing a full roster, and you have to be careful to not read too much into anything that happens. Do not get too high when somebody stands out, do not get too low when somebody doesn’t.

Big picture things are more important than small results at this point.

So let’s get into some observations and takeaways.

Kenny Pickett did what he needed to do

Of all the starters on the roster, Pickett is the one that I have the least problem with playing in the preseason opener. I know he is your starting quarterback and your (hopeful) future franchise quarterback, but he has so little experience and still needs so many reps with other starters at this point that it is important to get him at least some playing time in the preseason.

The Steelers were very smart about it on Friday and only gave him a single series.

He took advantage of it.