Thoughts from Green Bay Packers at Pittsburgh Steelers (8/13/2026)

Here are my thoughts from the Green Bay Packers 28-9 preseason loss to the Pittsburgh Steelers last night:

I am cautiously optimistic about kicker Trey Smack. I think you can forgive me for having a healthy dose of skepticism after they traded up to draft him in April, especially after the high turnover at that position since letting Mason Crosby walk following the 2022 season. However, so far, so good.

Yes, it was just one game, and a preseason contest at that, but Smack was on the road in Pittsburgh and went 4-for-4 (with one being negated because of a penalty), including two from 58 yards. That's something he can hopefully build upon.

It was hard to get a good read on the starting offense. Jordan Love and the rest of the starters have a history of getting off to a slow start and their lone drive in the game, which ended with a field goal, was restarted because of a penalty, and then ended with a field goal again, didn't do anything to change that narrative. However, since it was preseason, I know the offense was as vanilla as possible, and the primary goal was to keep anybody from getting hurt.

The starting defense looked good though. Again, it's preseason and new defensive coordinator Jonathan Gannon wasn't putting his best plays on display in a meaningless game. There were, however, some intriguing looks and the team was getting to the quarterback without the still-injured Micah Parsons, leaving reason to be optimistic.

I don't know if second-year quarterback Kyle McCord has any chance of beating out Tyrod Taylor as Love's backup, but I do think the third-string spot is his to lose. His drive at the end of the first half, spiking the ball and setting up Smack for his second (official) field goal was a solid one, especially since he started at his own 25-yard-line with just 38 seconds on the clock.

The reserve players were a disappointment in the second half. This is especially true of the defense, which gave up three straight touchdown drives to the Steelers and were giving up big penalties in key situations (though I did think at least one of those pass interference calls was questionable). The Kyron Drones-led offense was no better, netting negative 33 yards in two drives.