Brian Batko

The Steelers have hardly wasted a day of training camp without practicing the 2-minute drill. And they didn't waste a moment paying it off at Acrisure Stadium.

Will Howard led an eight-play, 80-yard touchdown drive starting with 1:53 left in the first half, rookie Drew Allar took it from there, and both were bolstered by a strong overall defensive performance in a 28-9 win Thursday night against the Green Bay Packers to kick off the preseason.

Howard, a second-year sixth-round pick out of Ohio State, missed the entire preseason last year with a finger injury. With Aaron Rodgers sitting this one out, Howard took the reins under center from Mason Rudolph with 10:14 left in the second quarter for the Steelers' third possession. And a loud ovation from the crowd announced at 64,164 welcomed him.

He completed his first pass, to wideout Brandon Smith, but didn't hit his stride until that situation that was lifted almost perfectly from the Steelers practice field to the immaculate new surface at their home venue. Howard nearly overthrew Ben Skowronek on fourth-and-1 from the Steelers 46, so his 6-foot-3 target extended to make the grab for 17 yards.

Veteran tight end Robert Tonyan, facing his former team, then became Howard's go-to guy. Howard and Tonyan connected on three consecutive completions for 16, 15 and 22 yards. The last one was nearly a 23-yard touchdown, but the call on the field was overturned to rule Tonyan down short of the goal line. Lew Nichols punched it in for a 1-yard touchdown on the ensuing snap to give the Steelers a 7-6 lead with 46 seconds left on the clock.

Allar received a nice cheer from the crowd, too, when he entered the game as a Steeler for the first time. His debut was highlighted by a 74-yard completion to fellow rookie Kaden Wetjen, who got a bit of separation out of the slot and nearly took it all the way before being brought down at the Packers 3. That set up Allar's 3-yard rushing touchdown on a read-option keeper to make it 14-9.

It was another Allar-Wetjen hook-up that gave the Steelers more cushion. Allar found Wetjen for a 5-yard score with 8:51 remaining. The rookie-to-rookie theme continued when Allar found Riley Nowakowski for a 4-yard touchdown pass with 1:46 left, leading to the final score.

Rudolph's opening series went three-and-out, but he settled in on his second possession, making good use of a rookie. Second-round pick Germie Bernard hauled in three catches for 44 yards on the drive, including a 25-yard reception into Packers territory.

The Packers started their No. 1 quarterback, Jordan Love, which gave the Steelers defense a challenge right from the jump. That unit bent but didn't break, while the backup groups did the same and more.

Love connected with Jayden Reed, another regular starter, for a 19-yard gain on the first series. The Steelers forced a field goal, though, thanks to a pass breakup by cornerback Asante Samuel Jr. in 1-on-1 coverage against Reed just shy of the end zone. Rookie Trey Smack converted a 37-yarder to put the Packers on the board first.

From there, the Steelers didn't allow a rush of 10 yards, and tallied four sacks. Jamin Davis, a former Washington first-rounder at outside linebacker, had two sacks, while mid-camp addition Israel Mukuamu came in on a safety blitz to bring down McCord on the final play of the third quarter.

Wetjen was the leading receiver, making both of his catches count for 79 yards. Nichols rushed a team-high 10 times for 36 yards.

Allar led the Steelers with 154 yards through the air on 10-of-13 passing, Rudolph was next with 93 yards on 10-of-11, while Howard threw for 86 on 7-of-9 passing. Steelers quarterbacks only let the ball hit the ground six times.

But plenty of flags hit the ground against the Steelers. Penalties were the most glaring issue, as the Steelers racked up 11 for 143 negative yards across all three phases and all four quarters.

The Steelers resume their preseason slate next Friday, Aug. 21, at 7 p.m. against the New York Jets.