Pittsburgh Steelers Preseason Week 2 Matchup Preview

The Pittsburgh Steelers host their first preseason game of the summer on Sunday afternoon when the Atlanta Falcons come to town. The Steelers will continue to evaluate their roster in this contest, as well as get their first in-game looks at players who are returning to the field after extended absences.

With that in mind, here's all the need-to-know information ahead of the Steelers' Preseason Week 2 matchup against the Falcons.

James Conner, Martavis Bryant to Make Preseason Debuts

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For different reasons, the Steelers did not have the services of either wide receiver Martavis Bryant or rookie running back James Conner in their first preseason game. For Bryant, he had only just been allowed to return to full-time practices just days prior after being conditionally reinstated by the NFL in April following a year-long ban. For Conner, it was an injury—a shoulder sprain—that kept him off the field.

But both are expected back and full participants in Sunday's game against the Falcons. Head coach Mike Tomlin said last week that Bryant would be a starting wide receiver in the second week of the preseason. Meanwhile, Conner is back at practice and said to the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review's Chris Adamski that "he's on track," to take part on Sunday.

Further, Conner is already being heavily worked into the offense. Steelers Depot's Alex Kozora charted Conner with eight carries and five passing targets (with five receptions) in just two practices—Sunday's and Monday's—which indicate that Conner's role in the offense should be a large one this week.

Meanwhile, Bryant is now a starting receiver on the team's latest depth chart, a logical step after Tomlin said the Steelers are "going to put our foot on the gas," as far as getting Bryant ready was concerned.

The two should get heavy workloads against Atlanta, as a way for Bryant to shake off the rust of having not played for well over a year and for Conner to get used to the speed of a professional football game. Perhaps their combined presences will help rookie quarterbacks Joshua Dobbs and Bart Houston bounce back from their 10 completions combined against the New York Giants in Week 1.

Artie Burns' Involvement

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Second-year Steelers cornerback Artie Burns was held out of the team's first preseason game, but it looks like he will be ready to go against the Falcons on Sunday. And that means he should have ample opportunity to show off just how much he's grown during his second training camp. 

Burns has been treated as the Steelers' top cornerback all throughout the spring and summer—aside from a week spent sidelined with a leg injury that kept him off the practice and playing field until Sunday—and has been solely tasked with shadowing top wideout Antonio Brown.

That trial by fire has paid off, at least in Latrobe, with Steelers Depot's Alex Kozora noting that Burns has allowed 13 completions to Brown on 27 attempts (a 48 percent success rate) and one touchdown, while everyone else combined have given up 18 receptions on 25 targets (72 percent success) for eight scores.

While Burns won't be seeing No. 1 Falcons receiver Julio Jones on Sunday (Jones is coming off of foot surgery and is being kept out of preseason action to preserve him for the regular season), Mohamed Sanu and Taylor Gabriel should both be challenges enough. If Burns can shut them down, he should have no trouble being Pittsburgh's top-performing cornerback in the regular season. It will be a good initial test for the sophomore.

Passing Game Improvement?

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Things did not go so well for the Steelers' two rookie quarterbacks, Joshua Dobbs and Bart Houston, in the team's first preseason game.

Though Pittsburgh emerged with a win, Dobbs and Houston combined for only 10 completions on 22 attempts. They had a total of 102 yards passing—44 of which was a Cobi Hamilton reception—and one touchdown by Dobbs, which was augmented by the 2017 fourth-round draft pick also throwing two interceptions and taking three sacks.

The good news, though, is that the duo will get another extended look on Sunday against the Falcons and a chance at redemption.

Starter Ben Roethlisberger is not going to play until the third preseason game, per his comments to Pittsburgh's 93.7 The Fan (via ESPN's Jeremy Fowler), while Kozora reported that his backup, Landry Jones, returned on Wednesday on a limited basis from an abdominal injury that had him on the team's not-participating list and potentially not ready to suit up by Sunday.

The good fortune continues for the young duo, with Martavis Bryant ready to play, James Conner back from his shoulder injury (and likely to be an important passing target against Atlanta), Sammie Coates activated from the physically unable to perform list on Wednesday and Justin Hunter a full participant in practices this week, according to Steelers Depot's Alex Kozora.

That gives Dobbs and Houston as many as five more targets to throw to—and dynamic ones, at that. Perhaps that's all the pair need in order to rebound from what were mostly underwhelming preseason debuts for both. At the very least, the returns of these players should allow for Dobbs and Houston to get their respective completion percentages to rise. 

The T.J. Watt Factor

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It was impossible not to notice the Steelers' 2017 Round 1 draft pick, linebacker T.J. Watt, in the team's first preseason game. Not only did he lead the defense in snaps played—63, plus 10 more on special teams, according to Steelers Depot's Dave Bryan—he was also Pro Football Focus' top-graded player in the contest. 

Watt had a combined five tackles (three solo), two tackles for a loss, two sacks and three quarterback hits against the New York Giants. He also made such a positive impression that Steelers outside linebackers coach Joey Porter said this week (via the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review's Joe Rutter) that Watt has earned a starting job over veteran incumbent James Harrison.

While head coach Mike Tomlin didn't voice his agreement with Porter's declaration—he said Harrison would get "as many [snaps] as he can handle," this season—and the second depth chart still has Watt behind Harrison, there's no question that Watt is one to watch against the Falcons on Sunday. This is doubly so because Pro Football Focus projected Atlanta to have a top-10 offensive line this season versus the 28th-ranked Giants group the Steelers saw last week.

The Falcons gave up just one sack to the Miami Dolphins a week ago (and four quarterback hits), and none came from Miami's leading pass-rushers Ndamukong Suh and Cameron Wake. Granted, neither Suh nor Wake got the amount of playing time Watt got nor the amount of playing time Watt is expected to get on Sunday.

Perhaps that makes a difference. But this is certainly the best non-Steelers offensive line that Watt will see in his professional career, so it will be important to watch if he can keep up his momentum built up in the Giants game or if he ends up struggling a bit more.

Cornerbacks Separating Themselves?

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While the Steelers' starting two cornerbacks are set on the outside, with Artie Burns and Ross Cockrell in no danger of losing footing on the roster, Pittsburgh still needs to determine who will be the primary slot cornerback this year as well as the makeup of the depth chart behind Burns and Cockrell. As of now, things aren't quite so clear.

Based on the snap count data of Steelers Depot's Dave Bryan, rookie Brian Allen saw the most playing time of any cornerback in the Steelers' first preseason game, with 54 snaps. That was followed by Brandon Dixon with 36, Coty Sensabaugh with 23, Mike Hilton with 19 (all played from the slot), JaCorey Shepherd with 18, eight for William Gay (who is a veteran and doesn't need the work) and Greg Ducre with zero.

However, the usage and the stats don't necessarily match up; Allen had only one tackle in the game, while Dixon had five (and three solo) while Hilton had seven (six total), which led the defense. And then there's the matter of the depth chart released on Wednesday.

Both the left and right spots behind Burns and Cockrell look the same: Gay, Sensabaugh, Hilton, Allen, Ducre and Shepherd. Rookie Cameron Sutton isn't even on the list, having been sidelined with a lower-body injury since the second day of training camp. But Sutton has recently returned to practicing and will immediately be in the mix at slot cornerback (and perhaps elsewhere on the field), potentially doing so on Sunday. 

As it stands, the Steelers still have a lot of evaluation to do before determining what their non-Burns, non-Cockrell plans are with the cornerback position for the 2017 season. So, who plays, where they play, how much they play and what they do with their playing time will all be must-watches against the Falcons in the second game of the preseason. 

Injuries/Non-Participant Updates

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The Steelers are trying something new with their preseason depth charts this year, choosing not to include injured players (and, in the case of holding-out running back Le'Veon Bell, absent) in the main group and instead keeping them in their own category, "non-participants."

On the depth chart released on Wednesday, there were eight such players on the list: Bell, quarterback Landry Jones (abdominal), receiver Demarcus Ayers (undisclosed injury), center Maurkice Pouncey (leg), cornerback Cameron Sutton (lower body), safety Mike Mitchell (leg/ankle), cornerback Senquez Golson (hamstring) and linebacker Keion Adams (shoulder).

The Steelers have some mixed news on the injury front this week. Sutton returned to the practice field on Sunday, and according to Steelers Depot's Alex Kozora, Jones and Pouncey did individual work on Wednesday. Mitchell, Golson, Adams and Ayers remained out for the day's practice, per Kozora.

Linebacker Ryan Shazier, who is battling through a hamstring injury, was also out on Wednesday, but Bud Dupree returned from whatever had been ailing him (unknown). That's in addition to receiver Sammie Coates' activation off the PUP, also on Wednesday.

However, rookie receiver JuJu Smith-Schuster left Wednesday's practice early with a left leg injury, according to the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review's Chris Adamski. Though head coach Mike Tomlin assured players that "he'll be alright," per Adamski, it could mean he's sidelined for Sunday. 

While it's important to note that things could change significantly considering the Steelers play their second preseason game later in the week than most teams, these changes in injury designations may not result in all of these players taking the field against the Falcons. Twenty-three Steelers (not counting Bell) sat out of the first preseason game, and not all because they were nursing some degree of injury.

The preseason is also about the strategic deployment of key starters, and thus some may only see playing time in the "dress rehearsal" that is the third preseason game and others, none at all.

So, keep in mind that while some of the "non-participants," are no longer "non-" that doesn't mean they will suit up, that those who did not practice on Wednesday are guaranteed ruled out for Sunday nor that every player available to play necessarily will. In other words, this category is subject to change between now and Sunday afternoon.