Rookie Trey Smack nails 37-yard field goal as Packers strike early vs. Steelers

Pittsburgh and Green Bay opened their preseason Thursday with a short, first-quarter scoring sequence that ended in the kind of checkpoint teams track closely in the early going. The Packers jumped out front when rookie kicker Trey Smack converted a 37-yard field goal, giving Green Bay a 3-0 lead after one quarter.

The early margin matters in preseason not for the standings, but for the rhythm of the game plan. Coaches use the opening frame to test starting units in game speed while also getting evaluation looks at the deeper roles, where execution under limited practice repetitions can separate the “next man up” options.

Smack’s field goal distance, listed as 37 yards in the Packers’ in-game update, also fits the typical preseason profile for kickers. It is long enough to show consistency from the regular-field range, but short enough that teams can reasonably expect multiple attempts when they reach scoring territory.

The sequence took place in Pittsburgh, setting the baseline for how both clubs would approach the rest of the evening’s roster rotations. In preseason matchups, early scoring often reflects how well each offense and special teams group handles timing, protection, and field position before substitutions reshape the look of the game.

For Green Bay, having a kicker find the mark on the first quarter’s first scoring play provides an immediate positive report for a unit that can be scrutinized even when the starters are only on the field in bursts. For Pittsburgh, the brief deficit underscores how quickly preseason games can swing before the tempo changes with personnel.

Because this update is confined to the first quarter, there is not enough confirmed information here to describe the full scoring summary, who was used on offense and defense for each team, or how the rest of the game developed. Those details typically require a complete box score or subsequent in-game updates to confirm.

Still, the headline moment establishes one clear storyline to watch next: whether Smack continues to get opportunities as Green Bay moves forward through its preseason evaluation plan, and whether Pittsburgh’s special teams coverage and field-position battles respond in the next frames.