We got a small taste of the action last week with the Hall of Fame Game, but this week, things will be kicking into warp drive with 16 games going down between Thursday and Saturday. When it comes to the preseason, you never know what you're going to see on the field. Some coaches will keep their starters on the bench, but that strategy isn't for everyone.
There are also plenty of coaches who like to see their starters get some action in the preseason. With that in mind, we're going to start off this winners and losers list by naming every coach who plays their starters a winner. Thanks for adding some excitement to the preseason.
And now, let's get to our full winners and losers list for Week 1 of the preseason. With Aaron Rodgers set to retire at the end of the 2026 season, the Steelers need to find their quarterback of the future and they might have already done that. The team drafted former Penn State QB Drew Allar in the third round back in April and he was a one-man highlight show during the Steelers' 28-9 win over the Packers on Thursday night.
Allar didn't get in the game until the second half, but once he was on the field, he absolutely took over: He finished 10 of 13 for 153 yards and three total touchdowns. Drew Allar SHINES in His Steelers Preseason Debut vs. Green Bay 🔥10/13, 153 PYDS, 2 PTD, 1 Rushing TD pic.twitter.com/j3Zmx8dsUV Will Howard and Mason Rudolph also saw some action on Thursday and they were both good, but Allar was great.
Khan's decision to draft Allar -- despite having Rudolph and Howard already on the roster -- is looking like a smart one so far. Of course, Allar put up his numbers in the second half against the backend of the Packers' defensive roster, so we still need to see what he can do against better competition, but this is a promising start. We broke down Allar's full performance from Thursday and you can read more about that here.
The rookie kicker has struggled at times during training camp, but he seems to have put those struggles behind him. Smack had a huge game against the Steelers, scoring all nine of Green Bay's points in the loss. Smack went 3-for-3 on field goal attempts and that includes hitting a 58-yarder just before halftime.
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