Pittsburgh Steelers vs Jacksonville Jaguars Match Player Stats (Aug 9, 2025)

If you came here looking for the Pittsburgh Steelers vs Jacksonville Jaguars match player stats from the August 9, 2025 NFL Preseason Week 1 game, you are in the right place. Pittsburgh won 31-25 at EverBank Stadium in Jacksonville, Florida, with Skylar Thompson leading the Steelers’ offense (20/28, 233 yards, 3 TDs) and Cam Little stealing the show with a 70-yard field goal that nearly broke the all-time NFL record. Neither team played most of their starters, but what they got instead was one of the most talked-about preseason openers in recent memory.

Final Score and Quick Game Summary

• Date: August 9, 2025
• Venue: EverBank Stadium, Jacksonville, FL
• Attendance: 58,316
• TV: FOX30 / KDKA-TV

Team Stats Overview

Before we get into individual performances, here is the full side-by-side team breakdown from the game.

Pittsburgh’s 62% third-down conversion rate was the single biggest gap in this game. Jacksonville’s offense converted just 3 of 10 third-down attempts, a number that head coach Liam Coen will have pointed to immediately on film review Monday morning.

Pittsburgh Steelers Player Stats

Passing

Mike Tomlin sat out 23 players, including Aaron Rodgers, DK Metcalf, T.J. Watt, and Jalen Ramsey. What his backup quarterbacks did with that opportunity, though, was genuinely impressive.

Rudolph was sharp against Jacksonville’s starting defense on Pittsburgh’s opening drive, carving them up on a 9-play, 65-yard scoring march. Thompson took over and was even busier, finding seven different receivers on his way to 233 yards and three touchdowns.

“I was super excited to get out and compete today. Coming into a new organization, a new team, kind of a fresh start for me. I was excited to go play some football and help out my teammates. Definitely did that today.” Skylar Thompson, post-game

Rushing

The ground game was quiet. Pittsburgh leaned heavily on the pass, running the ball just 25 times across the whole game.

Nichols actually led the backfield with 31 yards on six carries and was the most efficient runner on Pittsburgh’s side. Rookie Kaleb Johnson had the most carries but was held to 20 yards.

Receiving

This is where Pittsburgh’s depth really stepped up and made a case for roster spots.

Ke’Shawn Williams was the most impactful receiver on the night, turning two catches into 55 yards and the go-ahead score in the fourth quarter, a 26-yard touchdown from Thompson that made it 31-22. Scotty Miller was the safest pair of hands, hauling in all four targets for 47 yards. He was a key piece of the two-minute touchdown drive before halftime.

Darnell Washington’s one catch was a 19-yard touchdown over the middle from Rudolph, and he followed it up with a celebration that drew an unsportsmanlike conduct flag after he dunked the ball over the goalpost. The penalty didn’t change anything for the Steelers but it was enough to remind everyone that Washington wants the football.

Kicking / Special Teams (Pittsburgh)

Jacksonville Jaguars Player Stats

Passing

Trevor Lawrence made his first appearance since suffering a serious concussion against Houston in December 2024. He was limited to one series by design, and by all accounts, he looked sharp in his limited work.

Lawrence’s one incompletion was a deep ball to Brian Thomas Jr. that arrived a beat late. He also took a 3-yard scramble that ended with a hard hit. Liam Coen pulled him after the one drive as planned. Mullens reached 1,500 passing yards in his preseason career on the night, a milestone noted by FOX Sports.

Rushing

Jacksonville was actually more efficient on the ground than Pittsburgh (3.9 YPC vs 2.6), even though neither team ran particularly well. Tuten scored the only rushing touchdown of the game, an 8-yard push on fourth quarter that cut the Jaguars’ deficit to two points before Pittsburgh answered.

Receiving

Jacksonville’s receiving corps had a difficult night, with four first-half drops doing significant damage to drives that already had penalty problems.

Trenton Irwin was Jacksonville’s most productive receiver, reaching a career milestone of 30 preseason receptions on the night. His 11-yard touchdown catch from Mullens in the third quarter briefly gave the Jaguars a 15-14 lead. Travis Hunter, the second overall pick out of Colorado and the Heisman Trophy winner, caught two passes for 9 yards in his NFL debut. He also played eight defensive snaps in addition to his 10 offensive snaps.

“I felt great. A little nervous, but it felt great. It definitely settled down when I got the first catch, really when the first play started.” Travis Hunter, on his NFL debut

Kicking (Jacksonvile)

This is where Jacksonville absolutely dominated, and it was all Cam Little.

Little’s perfect 4-for-4 night headlined by the jaw-dropping 70-yarder at the end of the second quarter is the single most memorable stat line from this entire game. Three of his four makes were entirely routine. The 70-yarder was a different conversation altogether.

“Adrenaline is a beautiful thing. It does stink that it doesn’t count. That means we just have to go out there and make it again.” Cam Little, after the 70-yard field goal

Justin Tucker’s official NFL record stood at 66 yards, set at Ford Field against Detroit in 2021. Little’s kick would have shattered it by four yards. Because it happened in the preseason, the record books stayed closed.

Defense (Jacksonville)

Smoot’s sack of Rudolph in the second quarter was Jacksonville’s lone sack of the night and forced a Steelers punt on what could have been a scoring drive.

Defense (Pittsburgh)

Pro Football Focus graded CB Cameron McCutcheon as Pittsburgh’s highest-rated player across both sides of the ball at 93.4, though his interception was negated by a roughing the passer call. Safety Juan Thornhill (88.2 PFF grade) delivered a clean, hard shot on a crossing route that left a message for Jacksonville’s receivers.

Scoring Summary

Game Context: What Was Actually at Stake Here

You can not look at these stats in a vacuum. This was Preseason Week 1 on August 9, and the rosters that took the field looked almost nothing like what either team planned to field in September.

Pittsburgh’s notable absences: Aaron Rodgers, DK Metcalf, T.J. Watt, Jalen Ramsey. A total of 23 Steelers sat out entirely by Tomlin’s design.

Jacksonville’s first-team got one drive. Lawrence, Brian Thomas Jr., and the Jaguars’ projected starters were pulled after a single possession, which is standard operating procedure for most NFL head coaches in the first preseason game.

What made this game matter from a roster-building standpoint was what the backups did with their opportunities. Pittsburgh’s backup QB room looked functional. Jacksonville’s depth had visible issues, specifically the four dropped passes in the first half from Parker Washington, Tank Bigsby, Trenton Irwin, and Hunter Long.

For Liam Coen, it was his first game calling plays as an NFL head coach. The penalties were a recurring headache, with Jacksonville flagged eight times for 49 yards. Coen didn’t sugarcoat it.

“Self-inflicted wounds” were the theme of the day according to Coen in his post-game press conference. On the defensive side of the ball, Coen added: “I think there’s a little concern. I think we were playing a little loose in some of our coverage. I was a little disappointed with the early third-and-two situation.”

Key Storylines from the Pittsburgh Steelers vs Jacksonville Jaguars Matchup

Cam Little’s 70-Yard Field Goal

This is the play that everybody is still talking about. With four seconds left in the first half, Jacksonville had moved the ball just 16 yards on a short possession. Coen burned a timeout, walked over to Little, and asked him if he wanted the shot from 70 yards.

Little said yes. He drilled it clean. The ball curved slightly left, cleared the crossbar by a comfortable margin, and the ball boy caught it in the end zone. The entire stadium went electric.

The previous NFL regular season record was Tucker’s 66-yarder. The NCAA mark stood at 69. Little’s preseason attempt from 70 yards out cleared both. The problem: preseason statistics don’t count toward official records. The books stayed closed.

It didn’t stop there. Little would go on to hit a 68-yarder in the regular season on November 2, 2025 against the Las Vegas Raiders, officially breaking Tucker’s mark when it counted. But this August 9 moment at EverBank Stadium was the first proof it was possible.

You can find more full-game NFL stat breakdowns and preseason analysis over at TopHill Sports, which covers football across all levels of the game.

Travis Hunter’s NFL Debut

The second overall pick in the 2025 NFL Draft, coming off a Heisman Trophy at Colorado where he became the rare player to start on both offense and defense at the Division I level, took 18 total snaps in his pro debut. Ten on offense, eight on defense.

Two catches, nine yards. Missed one open-field tackle. No highlights on film.

But that wasn’t really the point. Hunter was healthy, moving freely between positions without hesitation, and was the first one on the field to meet Little after the 70-yarder. Jacksonville’s coaching staff wasn’t expecting fireworks in Week 1 from a rookie playing his first professional game.

Max Hurleman’s Backflip

One of the more unexpected feel-good moments of the night. Hurleman, an undrafted free agent out of Notre Dame who played running back at Colgate before switching to defensive back at Notre Dame and then switching back to running back in Pittsburgh’s camp, caught a 3-yard touchdown from Thompson in the second quarter and immediately went into a backflip in the end zone.

It was the kind of thing that gets a player attention in training camp battles. He finished with two catches for 29 yards and a score.

Skylar Thompson’s Legitimate Audition

Thompson, who spent three seasons in Miami before signing with Pittsburgh ahead of 2025, had every reason to perform well here. With Aaron Rodgers entrenched as the starter and Mason Rudolph as the clear backup, Thompson was fighting for the QB3 spot, especially with Will Howard dealing with a hand injury.

Twenty completions on 28 attempts, 233 yards, three touchdowns, zero turnovers. He spread the ball to seven different receivers. That is the kind of stat line that keeps you on an NFL roster.

PFF Grades: Who Graded Out Well

For those tracking individual grades from the Pittsburgh Steelers vs Jacksonville Jaguars box score, here is a quick snapshot of standout PFF marks from the Pittsburgh side of the ball.

No Pittsburgh player hit the 90-plus offensive threshold, but Miller and Washington were both excellent in their limited snaps.

What This Game Told Us Going Into the 2025 Season

For Pittsburgh: The backup QB depth looks real. Rudolph showed he can still run an offense efficiently against starting-caliber defenders. Thompson showed he can do more than game-manage when given opportunities. The receiving corps depth is legitimate, with Miller, Williams, and Hurleman all making cases to stick.

For Jacksonville: The drops hurt. Four first-half drops against a team running backup quarterbacks is a problem that shows up immediately on film. The penalties (8 for 49 yards) were equally damaging. The first-team defense got gashed on Rudolph’s opening drive without much resistance, which Coen addressed directly.

On the positive side, Lawrence looked composed and accurate in his brief work. Little’s leg is clearly a weapon. Hunter’s pro debut was quiet but steady, and the organization knows he will only improve as he gets more reps at the NFL level.

Pittsburgh Steelers vs Jacksonville Jaguars match player stats from August 9, 2025 tell a story that goes well beyond the final score. Steelers backups put together one of the cleaner backup performances you will see in a preseason opener. Jacksonville’s kicker nearly broke an NFL record that has stood since 2021. And a Heisman Trophy winner made his professional debut. For a game in early August, this one gave everyone plenty to chew on heading into the 2025 season.