The Steelers turned a two-point deficit into a 28-9 win over the Green Bay Packers on Thursday night at Acrisure Stadium, closing preseason game two with 21 unanswered points behind three second-half touchdowns from quarterback Drew Allar.
Green Bay led 9-7 midway through the third quarter and did not score again. Pittsburgh answered with a touchdown on its next possession and two more in the fourth, while the defense held the Packers to 160 total yards and 2.7 yards per play.
How the scoring went
Green Bay opened with a Trey Smack 37 yard field goal at 10:09 of the first quarter, and the Packers took a 3-0 lead into the second. Pittsburgh's first points came with 46 seconds left in the half on a Lew Nichols 1 yard run, with Chris Boswell adding the extra point. Smack answered as time expired in the half from 58 yards, trimming it to 7-6.
Smack's third field goal, from 38 yards at 4:28 of the third, put Green Bay ahead 9-7. That was the Packers' last scoring play of the night. Allar ran it in from 3 yards out at 2:25 of the third for a 14-9 lead, with Laith Marjan handling the kick.
The fourth quarter belonged to Pittsburgh. Allar found Kaden Wetjen for a 5 yard touchdown at 8:51, then hit Riley Nowakowski from 4 yards with 1:46 remaining. Marjan converted both. The quarter-by-quarter line reads 0-7-7-14 for the Steelers against 3-3-3-0 for Green Bay.
The stat battle
Pittsburgh outgained Green Bay 385 to 160 and moved the chains 25 times to the Packers' 17. The yards per play gap tells the story: 6.0 for the Steelers, 2.7 for Green Bay.
The passing game carried it. Steelers quarterbacks went 27 of 33 for 313 yards at 8.7 yards per attempt, producing 17 of Pittsburgh's 25 first downs through the air. Green Bay went 19 of 30 for 97 yards at 2.8 per attempt, taking five sacks for 44 yards in losses. Pittsburgh's pass rush accounted for those five sacks while allowing three for 19 yards.
Rushing was a wash. Both teams averaged 2.6 yards per carry, Pittsburgh gaining 72 on 28 attempts and Green Bay 63 on 24.
The red zone decided the margin. The Steelers converted four of five trips inside the 20. Green Bay reached the red zone once and came away with nothing, settling for Smack's three field goals from 37, 58 and 38 yards. Pittsburgh also converted 7 of 13 on third down and 1 of 2 on fourth, against 6 of 15 for the Packers.
Neither team turned the ball over. Both offenses ran nine drives, and possession split nearly evenly at 30:44 for Pittsburgh and 29:16 for Green Bay.
The flags were ugly on both sides. Pittsburgh took 11 penalties for 134 yards, Green Bay 9 for 76. Five of the Steelers' first downs and four of the Packers' came by penalty.
Leaders
Allar led all passers at 10 of 13 for 153 yards and two touchdowns. Wetjen led Pittsburgh receivers with 79 yards on two catches plus the 5 yard score. Nichols topped the rushing chart with 36 yards on 10 carries and the Steelers' first touchdown.
Jamin Davis led the defense in both major categories, posting two sacks and eight tackles.
For Green Bay, Kyle McCord went 12 of 16 for 102 yards. Damien Martinez led the ground game with 20 yards on eight carries and Isaiah Neyor caught four passes for 34 yards. Zaire Franklin recorded the Packers' lone sack and Mark Perry led with six tackles.
Our read
The box score frames this as a game the Steelers won at the goal line, not between the 20s. Green Bay moved the ball well enough to reach 17 first downs, but 0 for 1 in the red zone against 4 for 5 is a 19 point swing by itself. The 134 penalty yards are the number worth watching in game three, because a team that beats itself that thoroughly and still wins by 19 has not answered the question either way.
Full numbers: box score. Postgame analysis follows in the next Beat Brief.
