Recap: Pittsburgh Rallies to Get Pre-Season Win Over Jacksonville, 16-15

Photos by Nancy Beecher/SportsDay

By Mike Bonts

SportsDay

JACKSONVILLE (Florida Sports Wire) – Pittsburgh quarterback Mason Rudolph threw a one-yard TD pass to Tyler Snead following the two minute warning as the Steelers upended the Jaguars 16-15 in a NFL preseason game at TIAA Bank Field.

"There's still a lot of – I think there's a lot of good, positive takeaways from tonight with the starters and I feel good there. The young guys are going to learn. There were some good things that they did. But obviously sort of the obvious things are [that] we can't turn the ball over in the red zone," said head coach Doug Pederson. "We got points there again potentially. We've got to tackle better and things of that nature in the second half. But I think if you look at where we are at starters, I think we're right on track to where we need to be and where we want to be, and that gives us a lot of hope as we head into the regular season."

Jacksonville quarterback C.J. Beathard ran for a fourth quarter touchdown and Ryan Santoso connected on two of four field goal attempts for Jacksonville.

"Yeah, obviously not good enough. We had a chance to win the game, had a chance to start the game 3-0, and it's disappointing. But I know he'll battle back this week and try to correct it," Pederson said of Santoso's night.

Travis Etienne Jr. rushed for 29 yards on eight carries to lead Jacksonville.

Beathard finished 6 of 10 for 52 passing yards. E.J. Perry came in for Beathard late in the final quarter. Perry threw one interception.

The Steelers added a 38-yard field goal by Chris Boswell in the final quarter to make it 15-10.

Third Quarter: Rudolph started at QB in the third quarter for Pittsburgh. Rudolph was called for intentional grounding at his three-yard line, resulting in a safety.

Third Quarter Quick Takes: The Steelers went for a first down on fourth and one at the Jacksonville 45. Gunner Olszewski tried to run ran around left end and fumbled, caused by Dawuane Smoot and recovered by Jacksonville’s Adam Gotsis.

Game Notes: Beathard started the second half for the Jaguars…Trubisky finished 5 of 8 for 60 passing yards.

Jacksonville 6, Pittsburgh 7

Second Quarter: Rookie quarterback Kenny Pickett led Pittsburgh on a five play, 63-yard drive to the Jaguars 29. He hit Benny Snell in the flat for a TD with 23 second to play in the second quarter.

Pickett was 7 of 6 passing for 76 yards.

"That was all I had planned to play him. I would have liked to possess the football more in the first half and thus have a bigger body of work, but some things are outside of your control," said Steelers head coach Mike Tomlin." We've got to get first downs in order for that to happen. Oftentimes when you're not possessing the ball enough, there's not enough snaps to go around for everyone. So, it could be said for some of the offensive people we wanted to take a look at, a lack of conversions limits some of that.”

Santoso’ 25-yard field goal capped off the Jaguars best drive of the game so far. Jacksonville drove 83 yards on 15 plays to take a six-point lead.

Jaguars quarterback Trevor Lawrence finished the first half 14 of 23 passing for 133 yards. His favorite target was Chris Kirk with five catches for 54 yards.

"There was definitely more good than bad today. Obviously, the end result is not what you want. You want to win the game. But I think there was a lot of good things we did and a lot to learn from," noted Lawrence. "Third down has been something the last two weeks we've done a really good job. That's been a big emphasis for us because last year we weren't a good third down team. So you've got to be if you're going to be a good offense"

Second Quarter Quick Takes:  Pickett came in at QB for the Steelers with six minutes to play in the first half. The rookie played at Pittsburgh…the Jaguars went for fourth and one at the Steelers’ 39, but Lawrence’s pass to Even Engram was incomplete.

First quarter: Quarterback Mitch Trubisky led the visitors down the field to open the game. The drive stalled at the Jaguars 35. Boswell’s 53-yard field goal try hit the left upright.

Santoso’s 51-yard try on the Jaguars next possession was wide right. He gave Jacksonville the lead with a 53-yarder with 2:26 to play in the first quarter.

First Quarter Quick Takes: Arden Key sacked Trubisky…Jacksonville's Laviska Shenault recovered his own muffed a punt at the Jaguars 27. 

Pederson on Dawuane Smoot and Arden Key: "Really good things, honestly. Two players that are I think dynamic pass rushers. Smoot is a little different. He's more of a bull type guy. He's physical and strong. Arden is quick and slithery and can bend. I think both of them have unique skills that obviously we can exploit defensively for us, and I think they're both having a really good camp right now."

Game notes: Cornerback Darious William, running back James Robinson, linebacker Devin Lloyd and offensive linemen Badara Traore and Will Richardson Jr. did not play...the Jaguars travel to Atlanta for their final preseason game.

---Mike Bonts