{"id":265337,"date":"2026-08-14T14:56:09","date_gmt":"2026-08-14T14:56:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/265337\/"},"modified":"2026-08-14T14:56:09","modified_gmt":"2026-08-14T14:56:09","slug":"my-favorite-hidden-moment-from-pittsburghs-preseason-opener","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/265337\/","title":{"rendered":"My Favorite Hidden Moment From Pittsburgh’s Preseason Opener"},"content":{"rendered":"

I\u2019m as excited as anyone to dive into the film from quarterbacks Will Howard and Drew Allar. And turn on the tape for sixth-round rookie DL Gabriel Rubio and further examine the offensive line. Until we can digest the All-22, the most meaningful evaluations from the Steelers\u2019 28-9 win over the Packers will have to wait. With that space, here\u2019s my favorite small moment from Thursday night\u2019s preseason opener.<\/p>\n

Allar and rookie WR Kaden Wetjen deserve all the credit for their 74-yard pass play. Allar read man coverage and delivered a \u201cRAC\u201d ball that hit Wetjen in stride. He made a defender miss, hit the jets, and did the rest. But I want to give a special shoutout to WR Levi Wentz.<\/p>\n

He threw a key final block to spring Wetjen the final 20 yards. Packers safety Mark Perry was closing on Wetjen, but Wentz veered in front to cut him off. That propelled Wetjen the rest of the way until he ran out of juice and got tracked down.<\/p>\n

Take a look. Wentz is No. 28.<\/p>\n

A clean and legal block that didn\u2019t risk a block in the back or a costly penalty that would undo Wetjen\u2019s big moment.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s those moments that turn good plays into great ones, and great ones into touchdowns. Wetjen just came up short here at the end.<\/p>\n

In an offseason interview with Wentz, he candidly said he\u2019ll do whatever it takes to help the team win.<\/p>\n

\u201cI just want to go out there and make whatever impact I can,\u201d he told me in late June.<\/a> \u201cIf they want me to go out there and hand out waters to the guys, I\u2019m gonna be the best in the country at it. I take a lot of pride in whatever it is that I\u2019m doing. And I got a high motor. I\u2019ll go until I drop. That\u2019s the type of player I am.\u201d<\/p>\n

Pittsburgh didn\u2019t need water handed out. The team needed another block, and Wentz provided it. He was rewarded with his first NFL reception on a 9-yard pass from Drew Allar later in the game.<\/p>\n

Wentz\u2019s long odds to stick with the Steelers haven\u2019t changed. He has an uphill climb with the practice squad his only path. Even then, there\u2019s plenty of competition from Brandon Smith, assuming his in-game injury isn\u2019t serious, and Max Hurleman, who impressed yesterday.<\/p>\n

Still, it\u2019s that kind of moment that gets coaches to notice you as a true hand-in-the-pile type of guy. If teammates can return the favor and throw a block for him\u00a0in one of the final two Steelers preseason games, Wentz might do enough to stick beyond August\u2019s cutdowns.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"I\u2019m as excited as anyone to dive into the film from quarterbacks Will Howard and Drew Allar. And…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":265338,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[9],"tags":[54823,95912,73,75,74,1833],"class_list":["post-265337","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-pittsburgh","tag-kaden-wetjen","tag-levi-wentz","tag-pittsburgh","tag-pittsburgh-headlines","tag-pittsburgh-news","tag-pittsburgh-steelers"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/265337","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=265337"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/265337\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/265338"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=265337"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=265337"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=265337"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}