The Steelers finished their perfect preseason on Thursday night with a 24-0 victory over the Falcons.
Kenny Pickett, George Pickens and the offense got to strut their stuff. The defense pitched a shutout. It was a good time for Steelers fans and players.
But it was also a critically important night for the players on the Steelers roster who are fighting for their jobs. Let's look at three players who secured their spot on the 53-man roster and one who is going to miss the cut.
Steelers 53-man roster spot secured: Anthony McFarland Jr.
Najee Harris and Jaylen Warren are clearly the top dogs in the running back room but Anthony McFarland Jr. has done everything in his power to make sure he's on the roster alongside them as RB3.
The Steelers gave McFarland the chance to shine in Thursday's game and in return, he gave them 55 yards and a touchdown on 10 carries.
The touchdown may have been from just five yards out but he earned every inch of it.
The fact that McFarland looks likely to handle kick return duties is another plus in his favor.
McFarland's showing on a night he new would play a role in whether he makes the 53-man roster wasn't just admirable, it was impressive.
Steelers 53-man roster spot secured: TE Connor Heyward
When it comes to locking in a 53-man roster spot, it helps a whole lot if you can contribute at multiple positions. Teams love having versatile depth. And that's exactly what Connor Heyward brings.
Against the Falcons, Heyward lined up as a tight end, full back and running back. He caught two passes for 27 yards and rushed for 11 yards on four carries. He is also a special teams contributor.
Heyward's performance on Thursday paired with a strong camp in general makes him a lock to make the roster.
The Steelers have three tight ends already likely to make the roster in Pat Freiermuth, Zach Gentry and Darnell Washington, the third-round draft pick out of Georgia. Gentry is the most at risk of those, but Heyward would be in much more danger if he wasn't offering so much across the offense.
Pittsburgh can afford to technically keep four tight ends on the roster because of Heyward's versatility.
Steelers 53-man roster spot secured: K Chris Boswell
Chris Boswell really needed to screw up to put his roster spot in jeopardy. But you can never predict these things.
The kicker wasn't exactly reliable last season. He was 20-of-28, missing half of his attempts from 40 to 49 yards. When a kicker is just 71.4 percent on field goals, his job has got to be up for grabs.
The Steelers brought in Clemson's B.T. Potter to create some competition for Boswell and he hit both of his attempts in the opening preseason game against the Bucs. Boswell handled kicking in the second preseason outing against the Bills and hit his two attempts as well.
So there was a chance the competition could hinge on the Falcons game. And it was indeed settled in the direction you'd expect. Boswell knocked through his 38-yard kick and three extra points. Potter missed his lone 43-yard attempt.
Was this the most heated competition in Steelers training camp this year? No. But it should be encouraging to see Boswell looking like his old self in the preseason. There were no kicking blunders to worry about on Thursday.
So Boswell is definitely making the roster but someone else isn't...
Steelers 53-man roster cut incoming: OL Kendrick Green
Injuries up front forced the Steelers to move Kendrick Green into the right guard role for the game against the Falcons at the last minute. And all things considered, he did admirably well there in a tough spot. He also got reps at center.
However, it's still difficult to see where he fits in a 53-man roster. He's been moved around so much and there's little indication those moves have paid off in a tangible way. If the fullback experiment was viable, we would have seen that in the preseason game. We didn't, and that says a lot.
Green's problem was as much about his own disappointing performances as others locking in their roster spots. Seventh-round pick Spencer Anderson made his case on Thursday night. His upside is reason enough to hold onto him over someone like Green who has already shown to be less inspiring.
As Mark Powell of FanSided wrote: "Pittsburgh tried to give their former draft pick a chance this preseason, but he's consistently underwhelmed as compared to his competition."
A trade could be the only thing that spares Green from a cut less than three years after he was drafted in the third round.
