5 major observations from Sam Darnold’s second preseason game

A nice night’s work for Sam Darnold

There were a couple of bad throws that Sam Darnold would like to have back. But the quarterback’s overall production was incredibly pleasing.

Again, it’s hard to gauge the standard of competition with the Steelers missing their big guns. However, Darnold can only beat what’s in front of him and this was undoubtedly a solid foundation from which to build.

Darnold finished the half with two straight scoring drives on a Terrace Marshall Jr. screen and an absolute laser to Robby Anderson to close out his time on the field. This was reflected further by some impressive stats from his first taste of extended action.

• 19/25 passing (76%)
• 162 yards
• 2 TDs
• 0 INTs
• 1 sack
• 119.1 passer rating (ESPN)

One major worry remains the protection against any sort of first string. That’s going to have some substantial ramifications on Darnold because when the pocket was kept clean, he made the right decisions consistently.

It’s just the first step. But things couldn’t have gone much better from Darnold’s perspective and long may that continue.