(Photo by Kevin Sabitus/Getty Images)

The Steelers looked GOOD on Thursday night down in Atlanta during their final preseason game. 

Everything was clicking. The starters on offense looked great, the defense stepped up, and even the special teams looked well-oiled. It’s far too early to declare the Steelers Super Bowl champions, as much as we might want to after three straight solid preseason games. 

But I do think this preseason is a good indicator of what this team can be, especially last night at Mercedes-Benz Stadium. Some of my thoughts down below:

The Offense Is Amazing

The Steelers started off perfectly right from the first drive. Kenny Pickett threw multiple beautiful passes to march the team down the field. Diontae Johnson did his thing and made a play. George Pickens made another George Pickens catch. Both Najee Harris and Jaylen Warren looked like starter-caliber running backs. 

It was everything and more of what any Steelers fan could hope for as the starters got some final preseason action (more on that later), before the big show in a few weeks in Week 1. 

This offensive line is massively better, and showing more and more of it every week. Their ability to hold the line, a vital necessity to the young Pickett’s success, as well as their ability to create space for both Harris and Warren to run through needs to be commended. 

It wasn’t too long ago that this offensive line was one of the worst in the league. It’s huge for this team to not have to worry about that anymore. 

The Offense Looks *Different* With Trubisky In

As expected, Pickett only played for the very beginning against the Falcons, leaving a majority of the game to be led by Mitch Trubisky on offense. 

I like Mitch as the backup, I think he’s a great mentor to Pickett, while also being a serviceable backup quarterback for this team. 

But, I couldn’t help but notice that watching the offense just felt different when Trubisky was at the helm. There were far less explosive plays, far less big gains in chunks, and Trubisky struggled to break out of the pocket when it collapsed, being sacked multiple times. 

This game alone doesn’t make me think that Trubisky shouldn’t be the backup, but it does make me have just a little less comfort if the Steelers need to call upon him. 

Steelers Made The Right Decision Giving Starters Time

The Steelers definitely made the right call giving the starters a bit of playing time. 

Three weeks of no real in-game action, especially for a young offense that, while immensely talented, is still relatively inexperienced, would have been too long of a break between the second preseason game and the beginning of the regular season on September 10th. 

I certainly wouldn’t have been advocating for Pickett and the gang playing much, but keeping them in rhythm is vital to the Steelers’ success this season, and they got to do that in this game. 

Elandon Roberts Is A Stud

Elandon Roberts is a guy on the defense I’m liking more and more each game. Last night, he was incredibly visible on the field, including twice when he absolutely blew up someone on the Falcons. 

First, he broke through into the backfield to immediately wrap up Atlanta’s Bijan Robinson for a big loss. Then, just a short time later, Roberts went uncovered to deliver a big time sack of quarterback Logan Woodside. 

All Three RBs Look Great

The running back room looks stronger than ever. 

Najee Harris looks like he’s fully ready to go, and should be off to a much better start come September now that he’s fully healthy. 

Jaylen Warren once again looked like a starting running back in his own right. Plus, his effort to reach over into the endzone for the touchdown was a little reminiscent of Antonio Brown’s Christmas game heroics, with obviously much less at stake. 

Anthony McFarland looks poised to be a great RB3, with several solid rushes and a real ability to run with the ball. 

All three of these guys ran for a touchdown in this game as well. I don’t think there should be any worry about the RB room. 

Defense Looks Great Over Entire Preseason

While yes, on the scoresheet, the defense’s best performance was the 24-0 shutout of the Falcons, the defense has looked solid in all three preseason games this year. 

Allowing just 17 points to the Buccaneers (some of which were scored in garbage time), 15 to the Buffalo Bills (all in the fourth quarter), and 0 to the Falcons, is pretty good work for this unit. 

Yes, I know it is the preseason, and the defense is facing mostly backups, but we still need to give them their props for three pretty good games, including a shutout to close out the preseason. 

We Are All Gonna Love Calvin Austin

I know that the game against the Falcons wasn’t as impressive as his game against the Bills, but we still got to see some of that speed Austin has on the field yesterday. 

I think we are all going to love Austin, and he’s going to provide us with many electric runs during the season. He’s going to be a really fun player to watch. 

The Road To Week 1

There was no better way to end the preseason than the way Pittsburgh did yesterday, and now the season barrels forward to Week 1, when the San Francisco 49ers come to town to open the year. 

While we won’t officially know how good this team really is until we see them in real, regular season action, it certainly has been a promising last few weeks for the team, and should give fans some encouraging feelings going into Week 1. 

Till then, I think we should all feel pretty good.