On Friday night, the Pittsburgh Steelers defeated the New York Giants, 20-12. What did we learn from this preseason affair?

Two of the NFL’s most successful franchises renewed acquaintances on Friday night in East Rutherford, NJ. When it comes to league history, only the Green Bay Packers (13) and Chicago Bears (9) have won more NFL titles than the New York Giants (8) and Pittsburgh Steelers (6). Of course, all six of the Black and Gold’s championships have come during the Super Bowl Era – the most by any franchise.

Of course, there was really nothing on the line in this summertime tilt. We would not see Ben Roethlisberger or Eli Manning — two of the members of the very successful quarterback draft class of 2004. In fact, it turned out that whoever went to this game were subject to a little joshing.

Instead of Roethlisberger or injured backup Landry Jones, it was rookie Josh Dobbs behind center for Mike Tomlin’s team. Rather than Manning or second-stringer Geno Smith, it was quarterback Josh Johnson. So what’s in a name?

When it was all said and done, the Steelers came away with a 20-12 win in a game that saw Mike Tomlin’s club keep the Giants to four field goals. Pittsburgh held Ben McAdoo’s club to 242 total yards on 72 offensive plays (3.4 average). New York also won the time of possession battle (33:43-26:17) but was unable to punch the ball into the end zone, regardless if it was Johnson, Smith or 2017 third-round pick Davis Webb behind center. On the evening, Pittsburgh’s pass rush produced seven sacks, three by veteran outside linebacker Arthur Moats.

It’s always nice to win but obviously, a loss would have meant nothing as well. So what exactly did we take from the Steelers and this initial preseason outing of 2017? Franky, there’s no question Watt really piqued our interest.