5 Things from Pre-season Week 2: Steelers vs. Falcons

By: Donny Chedrick
1. Martavis Bryant looks ready and good

Photo creds to USA Today

I know it's the preseason. I know the games don't count. I know none of what happens in these exhibition games matter, but for a guy like Martavis Bryant - who missed all of last season with his year-long suspension, this is a time he can prove to the city of Pittsburgh that he is ready to play this season. Although Bryant only hauled in two passes for 20 yards Sunday, he looked good and has looked as such ever since returning to the practice field. By all accounts, Bryant is bigger, stronger and faster than he was two years ago when he had 765 yards and six touchdowns. Bryant's second catch of the day on Sunday for 23 yards was just a glimpse of what fans will see him do this season.

2. The defense looked worked

Photo creds to The Falcoholic

The NFL knows the Steelers aren't built how they are historically known and haven't been since their last Super Bowl appearance nearly seven years ago. The offense might be the best in the league, while the defense, which for so long was the heartbeat of this franchise,is middle of the pack, at best. I know you're saying, "Well, they only gave up 13 points and shutout the Falcons in the second half!" Which I understand. I know this is a 'bend, don't break' type of defense, but the starting unit was out for the majority of the first quarter, and some players were out there even longer. Atlanta quarterback Matt Ryan waltzed his offense down the field on the opening drive, but after that, backup Matt Simms went to work and ended his day with nearly 200 yards on 15 completions. Corners Ross Cockrell and Artie Burns were getting beat, and at some point, the Steelers might realize they let middle linebacker Lawrence Timmons go too quickly. Time will tell, but the defense didn't look too hot on Sunday afternoon.

3. TJ Watt looked human

Photo creds to FanRag Sports

The numbers look OK given the small sample size from Sunday's scrimmage, but it could have helped rookie linebacker TJ Watt in the long run because, after an impressive debut in the preseason opener, he looked human. After his two-sack performance against the Giants, fans had expectations through the roof for the 1st-rounder. Four total tackles (two solo) and one tackle-for-loss while sometimes looking a little lost in pass coverage and other times being handled by a fellow first rounder, Falcons left tackle Jake Matthews. Steeler fans shouldn't be too worried about this, however, because this is just part of the NFL learning curve. Watt will learn from this and be just fine.


4. James Conner isn't Lev Bell, but he can carry his own

Photo creds to Cardiac Hill

He was familiar with Heinz Field when he ran on it Sunday, and quite frankly, rookie running back James Conner looked pretty solid. Always take it with a grain of salt due to the level of competition in the preseason, but 98 yards on 21 carries is a good day's work for the former Pitt Panther. Conner showed a handful of examples of his explosiveness when he broke free for a few yards. Le'Veon Bell is a different kind of runner and is arguably the best one in the National Football League, but due to his recent absence, the Steelers got to test Conner in game action for the first time - and I think he passed.

5. Who will lose out in the wide receiver battle?

Photo creds to EndZoneScore

This is a tough call because the Steelers have so much talent at the wide receiver position. Antonio Brown, Martavis Bryant, JuJu Smith-Schuster and Eli Rogers seem like locks. Darrius Heyward-Bey and Justin Hunter look like guys that will probably make the roster, and the final one or two spots will go to either Sammie Coates, Cobi Hamilton or Demarcus Ayers. Coates fell off the second half of last season, and his bad hands have him on the outside looking in, while Hamilton picked it up last year for being relatively unheard-of going into the season and topping it off with an overtime TD catch from Landry Jones in Week 17. Ayers showed his potential in a handful of games last year, mainly Baltimore and Cleveland, but has had trouble getting on the field whether he's healthy or unhealthy.

Franklin extension makes sense, but could it have waited?

Photo creds to The Sports Fan Journal

Since his arrival in 2014, my feelings of Penn State head football coach James Franklin have changed on multiple occassions.

When PSU hired Franklin, I was excited. Why wouldn't I have been? In his three years at Vanderbilt University, Franklin took one of the worst power five programs in college football history to back-to-back top 25 finishes, accumulating a record of 24-15 overall and 18-8 over his last two seasons. Not only did Franklin have an impressive track record as a head coach; his upbeat attitude was also appealing. When the Nittany Lions began the Franklin era with four straight wins, that optimism seemed to be valid. The rest of the 2014 season, however, didn't go as planned.

Penn State lost six of its last eight regular season games, ending with a record of 6-6 overall and 2-6 in the Big 10. To make matters worse, prized quarterback Christian Hackenberg did not build on his impressive freshman season, and many saw the switch from Bill O'Brien to Franklin as a primary cause for this.

The Nittany Lions ended the year on a high note, with a thrilling overtime win over Boston College in the Pinstripe Bowl. The exciting end to the season, along with the fact that four of Penn State's six losses were by seven points or less, gave fans optimism that this young football team would take a step forward in 2015. It didn't turn out that way.

Penn State did not improve at all in Franklins second year. A putrid offense, along with embarrassing losses at Temple and Michigan State were part of another 7-6 campaign. So after two years, the Nittany Lions were a mediocre 14-12 overall and 6-10 in conference play under Fraklin. While it might be a stretch to say that Franklin was on the hot seat going into 2016, fans were starting to get impatient. We did not want to deal with another pedestrian season.

An upset over second-ranked Ohio State, a conference championship and an appearance in one of the greatest Rose Bowl games of all time brings us to the main topic of this article, which is Franklin's recent contract extension.

This Friday, word got out that PSU would be taking good care of its head coach for the next several years. Penn State inked Franklin to a six-year deal worth around $5.8 million a year $32 million extension. On the surface, locking Franklin up long-term makes perfect sense. Although there are plenty of reasons to be excited about Penn State football right now, pulling the trigger on this extension might be a little premature.

The reasons for extending Franklin are evident. Penn State football hasn't been this hot going into a new season in almost two decades, and a lot of that is because of the man running the ship. The job that he has done recruiting and motivating players, as well as picking quality assistants is admirable. But as remarkable as last season was, a lot went right for Nittany Lions.

Penn State had a good football team in 2016 and deserved to be winners. At the same time, an unforgettable campaign could easily have been one of minimal to zero progress if not for a few bounces.

A few of the 11 wins included the game against Ohio State in which the Buckeyes statistically dominated, and likely would have won if not for that late blocked-kick touchdown. If not for Marcus Allen's gifted hand, there would have been no upset victory to force the nation to take notice.

Another example of things going Penn State's way was October 1 against Minnesota. Here, they were two seconds away from falling to 2-3 and creating some serious questions about Franklin's future in Happy Valley. Instead, a Tyler Davis field goal sent the game to overtime, where PSU got a huge win via a Saquon Barkley TD run. If the Lions dropped this game and fell to 2-3, who knows what this would have done to their confidence the rest of the way?

If Penn State hadn't won these two games, they surely would not have had a chance to play for the Big 10 championship, where again it was fortunate.  The Nittany Lions overcame a 21-point first half deficit against Wisconsin,  ending the game on a 28-3 run to win its first outright conference title since 1994.

It's also worth noting that Penn State had a favorable schedule last season. Of the five road games the Nittany Lions played, only two were against teams that finished with a winning record meaning that Penn State had the luxury of playing most of its toughest games in the friendly confines of Beaver Stadium.

Again, PSU football had a hell of a run in 2016, and fans should have an abnormal level of excitement as this season draws near. But with that optimism should also come the realization that 2016 was a perfect storm in some ways, and replicating that success will be difficult. Although it's easy to see why Penn State has decided to make James Franklin the third-highest paid head football coach in the Big 10 and the highest among African Americans in the country, weather or not this is a premature decision is a fair question to ask.

Here is what I would have done if I was athletic director Sandy Barbour; I would have waited out 2017 before pulling the trigger. I would have decided that, considering the weight of expectations along with a tougher conference slate, that Franklin needs to prove that he can sustain this success and not be a one-year wonder at Penn State.

This season will be a challenge. Not since the days of LaVar Arrington have the Nittany Lions come into a season with this big a target on their back. They also won't have the perk of playing Ohio State and Iowa at home, and probably won't benefit from a 3-9 Michigan State team again. Unlike last season, this team will not sneak up on anybody.

If Franklin can go at least 9-3 in the regular season, he will, for the moment, justify his raise. In my mind, he needs to prove that he can build a consistent winner. He has not done that yet, and because of that, I would have waited before giving him the big bucks.