After suffering their seventh loss of the season, the Pittsburgh Steelers sit in the basement of the AFC North division. Naturally, there is plenty of blame to go around across the board as to the source of the continued problems on both sides of the ball.
Just looking at last week’s 37-30 performance at home against the Cincinnati Bengals, if I were to tell you the offense had the ball 13 times, converted just under 50 percent of their third downs, found themselves in the red zone five times, and possessed the ball for over 28 minutes, you would think they won the game. One could even argue last week was one of the best offensive performances of the season up to this point.
Steelers' Kenny Pickett (#8) drops back to pass against the Cincinnati Bengals in Pittsburgh, PA. | Photo Credit: Jordan Schofield/SteelerNation (JSKO_PHOTO Twitter)
One of the biggest highlights was quarterback Kenny Pickett in his sixth career start. For the second game in a row, Pickett didn’t turn the ball over, which was his biggest focus throughout the bye week earlier this month. Pickett proclaimed he’d be more careful with the football after throwing seven interceptions leading up to the off-week and he wasn’t joking.
Combined between the last two weeks, Pickett has a 60 percent completion percentage, tallied 329 all-purpose yards, threw a touchdown pass and is averaging over 10 yards-per-completion all without turning the ball over. Although the team result doesn’t necessarily indicate success, Pickett has made significant strides in his development. Even ESPN’s Dan Orlovsky broke down how impressive Pickett’s touchdown to fellow rookie George Pickens was on Sunday.
Pickett has done some good, encouraging, impressive stuff the last few weeks
— Dan Orlovsky (@danorlovsky7) November 23, 2022
This is tough to teach 👇🏼 @steelers 👏 pic.twitter.com/MpwWixHdQr
On Wednesday, Kenny Pickett spent some time with the media after the Steelers’ practice in preparation for his first Monday Night Football appearance.
How does Pickett think he is doing in his development? He explained:
“I’m feeling better and better each week. Obviously, the more you play in the system, the more comfortable you get," Pickett said. "So, I like the way I’m progressing, where I’m headed. We just got some small things to clean up and if we get those cleaned up, we feel like it would be a different game on Sunday, but you know we didn’t get it done. So that’s on us to get it fixed for Monday night.”
Steelers' Diontae Johnson (#18) lines up against the Cincinnati Bengals in Pittsburgh, PA. | Photo Credit: Jordan Schofield/SteelerNation (JSKO_PHOTO Twitter)
One of the most glaring blemishes in the Steelers’ offensive stat lines was the lack of involvement of Diontae Johnson. In the offseason, Johnson ‘held in’ in the earlier part of training camp for a new contract and agreed to a two-year, $36,710,000 contract extension to keep him in Pittsburgh through the 2024 season.
With that type of price tag, one would think he’d be a focal point in the offensive scheme game in and game out. But after posting a mere 21 yards on four receptions on Sunday, Johnson was understandably frustrated that he didn’t see more action his way. Pickett agreed with those sentiments:
"He's a smart player. We'll be coming off the field and he'll be like, 'They're over the top. They're doubling up,'" Pickett said. "He knows. He's a great player and he wants to help us win. We'll get him in some spots to be successful. If he's getting doubled, it's tough to get him the ball. They know how great of a player he is. I think if we move him around and don't keep him in the same spot, it's a great way to get him some opportunities."
There is no better time to start getting one of the biggest playmakers more involved in the scheme than by going against another top-ten pass defense in the Indianapolis Colts. The Colts’ secondary features the likes of Rodney McLeod Jr., Kenny Moore II and All-Pro Stephon Gilmore. Gilmore won the NFL’s Defensive Player of the Year award in 2019 and, to the dismay of many Steelers fans, signed with the Colts this past offseason after a short stint with the Carolina Panthers. With this being Pickett’s first experience facing Gilmore, not to mention on a nationally televised game, his game planning and film review are going to be focused on where Gilmore is on the field:
"He moves around. We'll see how they play us," Pickett said. "They've got a great four-man rush. Their linebackers, they're fundamentally sound. You don't see people getting behind them. They don't have a lot of breakdowns in coverage. They do a good job of keeping a lid on it. We've got to be detailed, protect the football. I've got to make good decisions to get us in scoring position."
the Steelers' offense huddles up in Pittsburgh, PA. | Photo Credit: Jordan Schofield/SteelerNation (JSKO_PHOTO Twitter)
As we’ve seen recently, Pickett is effective at getting the ball to the other playmakers to move the chains. Albeit there is still a very long way to go in reading his progressions and not being rushed to make a throw. There have been other contributors on offense who have a strong connection with Pickett.
Included in those are Pickens and Pat Freiermuth, who combined for 162 yards on 12 catches and a touchdown last Sunday. Even though he’ll most likely be throwing away from Gilmore, it doesn’t sound like Pickett is going to overthink his progressions too much on Monday:
"That's kind of the game that defenses have to play. Who are you going to take away," Pickett asked. "Where am I going to go with the football with the guys that we have? My job is to read the defense and get it to the guy that's open. That's what I'm going to continue to do."
Fans shouldn’t be quick to dump the blame for the season’s woes on Pickett’s shoulders. There are a ton of promising numbers to make note of that help set the stage as to what to expect in the years to come.
First, amidst a league consisting of Patrick Mahomes, Josh Allen, Aaron Rogers, Tom Brady and Jalen Hurts, it is Pickett who is leading the entire league in completion percentages against the blitz. So far this season, Pickett has completed 70.6 percent of his passes when facing blitz packages. If we just look at last week’s game against the Bengals, Pickett finished with a 155.8 passer rating when he was under pressure. Included in that was the 24-yard touchdown pass to Pickens.
Finally, Pickett’s current quarterback rating of 43 is higher than what we saw from Lamar Jackson (42.6), Matthew Stafford (37.1) and Hurts (33.8). It may not seem like it now, but Pickett is exactly where he needs to be at this point in his career to succeed in the NFL and in Pittsburgh. All good things are worth waiting for, and that's what the Steelers have in Pickett.
What are you looking for in practice this week? What do you think they need to adjust most on offense? Let us know in the comments below!
#SteelerNation
