Takeaways: Steelers close out preseason with a win

Steel City Underground presents post-game takeaways following each 2025 NFL preseason game that focuses on how the Pittsburgh Steelers performed, key statistics, and more!

On Thursday night, on the road, the Pittsburgh Steelers were able to close out the 2025 NFL preseason with a 19-10 win over the Carolina Panthers. While the game featured a few more starters than the previous two games, Pittsburgh opted to give higher snap counts to guys who needed the on-field experience and repetitions versus showing their full potential ahead of the regular season.

While the game wasn’t explosively exciting, both teams drawing a number of early penalties, there were some sparks and quite a few takeaways to look at in more depth.

Thompson won’t pass Rudolph on depth chart

While Mason Rudolph had a less than stellar outing against the Panthers (6/8 passing for 36 yards, 1 interception) compared to Skylar Thompson (11/13 passing for 152 yards, 1 touchdown), the Steelers know what they have in the more-experienced Rudolph. Has Thompson showed poise under pressure, been mobile, found some smart targets to hit? Yes. In fact, Thompson has been something of a surprise in how he has performed.

While fans may be clamoring for Thompson behind Aaron Rodgers over Rudolph, let’s take a step back and remember that had Will Howard not injured his throwing hand during training camp, he likely would have had the reps Thompson was given, or more, and Logan Woodside might have seen little to no time on the field.

Ahead of the 53-man cutdown this upcoming Tuesday, the Steelers will need to make a determination about Howard’s progress injury-wise. Expectations are that the team will keep just three QBs rostered, and unless Howard is physically unable to perform, Thompson and Woodside are on the cutting block.

Thompson’s play very well could land him a spot with another NFL team, unless the Steelers opt to stash him on a coveted practice squad position. The quarterback needed to show more than Rudolph this preseason for that reason: future potential, likely elsewhere.

Sloppy play for a preseason finale

It can’t be blamed on poor officiating; the Steelers were caught-up in the midst of a golden flag fest of their own making, especially early in the game. False starts, blocks in the back, holding… those are fundamental things that should have been cleaned up by this point. Jalen Ramsey‘s extra slam of a ball carrier he had stopped in the backfield might get some fans fired up over his famed nasty on-field disposition, but in a regular season game would be a severe blow when penalized.

Add in an interception, a near-fumble by Jaylen Warren, a blown assignment that allowed an easy Panthers touchdown, and a lot of arm-tackling whiffs, and you get this:

“It’s good to get a win… There’s a lot of things that (we) don’t like, to be quite honest with you. I thought we were highly penalized. We turned the ball over there early. The tackling was shaky at best at times. I think they had 100 yards rushing at the half and that’s just kind of indicative of how poor the tackling was at times… we’ve got some things to work on…” – head coach Mike Tomlin

Yes, it was a win. Points on the scoreboard. A moral victory. Even Coach Tomlin explained that victories tend to right some of the wrongs. Let’s hope that before the regular season kicks off those things are put behind this team.

Earning positions

The last preseason game is considered to be a final opportunity for many players to make a statement about why the deserve a roster spot. “I always do a history of the series for this game to illustrate to the guys how important this opportunity is,” Tomlin told Bob Labriola before the game. There have been players in the past who have shown enough during the preseason to edge out someone who might have looked to be a shoe-in.

Rookie defensive lineman Yahya Black has certainly not disappointed in stepping up this preseason. He logged the first Steelers sack of the preseason in this game and followed it up with another. He showed, in the game against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, that his bull-rush is deadly and that he has the ability to push offensive linemen backwards, into the quarterback’s face if necessary.

At receiver, Lance McCutcheon got an opportunity to shine in this game due to a Brandon Johnson injury. McCutcheon caught 3 passes for 52 yards, including a 24-yard touchdown. Both receivers are competing with Scotty Miller, Ben Skowronek, Ke’Shawn Williams, and Robert Woods to land a spot with D.K. Metcalf, Calvin Austin, and Roman Wilson.

The Steelers aren’t in the habit of just handing positions away, so film from this game alongside the Jacksonville and Tampa Bay reels will help uncover who showed they’ve earned positions and who hasn’t.

“There’s always some difficult decisions and conversations, and really, I’ve learned not to speculate until you get out of this stadium,” Tomlin answered when asked about how hard it is to get down to 53 players. “I’ve learned to wait, to live in the moment, and to make all analysis and decisions on the other side of this game.”