The game couldn't have started better for the Pittsburgh Steelers in their second game of the 2015 preseason. After losing the coin toss and receiving the ball, Ben Roethlisberger orchestrated a magnificent opening drive. In about 3 minutes the Steelers put together a 6-play 80-yard drive capped off by a Roethlisberger 44-yard play-action pass to Martavis Bryant for a touchdown.
The drive was spurred by some terrific running by Le'Veon Bell who rushed for 18 yards on just two carries, while also having a reception on the drive as well. If putting an easy 6 points on the board wasn't enough, the Steelers went for a two-point conversion which was successful by a pass from Roethlisberger to Markus Wheaton.
With an 8-0 lead, the Steelers defense took the field and did their best "bend don't break" impression surrendering a field goal to make the score 8-3.
Landry Jones then took over for the offense, and the scoring came to a screeching halt. Both offensive and defensive substitutions ensued for the Steelers, and the Jaguars starting offense moved the ball well in the second quarter to the tune of 14 unanswered points to take a 17-8 score into halftime.
The second half was more of the first as backups continued to replace regulars and the brand of football slowly deteriorated. Nonetheless, in the third quarter Landry Jones turned a missed Jaguars field goal attempt into a 48-yard field goal by newly signed kicker Garrett Hartley to cut the lead down to 17-11, which stood throughout the third quarter.
In the fourth quarter, the Steelers were able to take advantage of several Jaguar penalties and another Hartley field goal brought the Steelers to within 3 points, with a score of 17-14. On the ensuing kickoff the Jaguars fumbled the kickoff and lead to a Landry Jones strike to C.J. Goodwin for a touchdown. After this score, the Steelers elected to kick the 33-yard point after touchdown, which was good, giving them a 21-17 lead with 4 minutes remaining in the game.
The final Jaguars drive was aided by three personal foul penalties against the Steelers, which resulted in a one-yard quarterback sneak by third string signal caller Stephen Morris. The two-point conversion failed and the Jaguars gave the ball back to the Steelers with a 23-21 lead and 2:54 left in the game.
Landry Jones remained in the game to orchestrate the two-minute drill, and was unsuccessful. However, the Jaguars inexplicably threw an incomplete pass after re-gaining possession on downs, and eventually gave the Steelers the ball back with 1:09 left and no timeouts. After a touchback, Jones was unable to lead the Steelers into scoring position and a sack ended the game with a final score of 23-21.
The loss drops the Steelers to 0-2 on the preseason and will host the Green Bay Packers next Sunday, August 23rd at 1:00 p.m. at Heinz Field.