It may be preseason football between the Pittsburgh Steelers and the New York Giants, but if feels so good -- like coming home after a long, difficult journey.
The starters had moments both good and bad in the first half. The offense ran the ball quite well in comparison the memories of a wretched 2012 performance. LaRod Stephens-Howling was definitely the best rusher, picking up 40 yards on seven carries. Jonathan had a couple nice runs, but two not-so-nice and two worse drops.
The passing game found success through Emmanuel Sanders, Will Johnson and Markus Wheaton, who can safely be called a lock to make this roster now; but a sack killed a drive which resulted in a blocked punt, and Dwyer's two drops killed third-downs of their own. Overall, the outlook on the offense as far as the first two strings is positive knowing the team will only improve over the next three weeks.
The Steelers run defense has been solid, but pass coverage was shaky at times. Josh Victorian allowed a couple of catches while Isaiah Green allowed zero. Jarvis Jones recovered a fumble, and Robert Golden almost picked off a pass.
The Giants offense was shut out in their first series, but Eli Manning would eventually hit Victor Cruz for a TD over William Gay and the Steelers secondary. The Giants scored a field goal off of their blocked punt of Drew Butler, and added another at the end of the first half. The Steelers connected on two field goals by Shaun Suisham, leaving the score at 13-6.
The only significant injury afflicted Stevenson Sylvester after making a nice special teams tackle. He was taken to the locker room with an ankle injury, with no official diagnosis yet; but he has been downgraded to out and will not return.
Now, the dogs are about be unleashed, and they're hungry; or at least, they better be.