The Pittsburgh Steelers former quarterback’s Footbahlin with Ben Roethlisberger podcast was released on Tuesday on YouTube. Episode 12 featured Ben Roethlisberger, who was joined by his co-host Spencer T ’eo and KDKA anchor Bob Pompeani as the trio tasted assorted adult beverages and discussed the Steelers 20-10 victory over the New Orleans Saints at Acrisure Stadium this past Sunday.
Footbahlin with Ben Roethlisberger | YouTube
“I sort of grade it on a curve,” Pompeani said about Kenny Pickett’s performance. “Just because I think as rookies, it’s a tough job. You would know that, obviously you went through that. I thought first half, there was some things that he was not as sharp. But the second half, he got better, didn’t make mistakes, engineered two pretty good drives. Run game obviously helped. For a young quarterback, that is important to have, and I’m glad to see they did it.”
Kenny Pickett played clean, but not spectacular football on Sunday. Najee Harris and Jaylen Warren led the way as the Steelers rushed for over 200 yards against a very good New Orleans defense. Pickett made several solid throws and used his legs to contribute over 50 yards rushing himself. The nearly perfect balance of run and pass against a top tier defense bodes well as the offense showed improvement.
“I would agree to a certain extent,” Roethlisberger replied to Pompeani. “I think they have tried to run it over and over the last few weeks. I think they have been running into a brick wall. At some point, you gotta try something different. I would say this, the first play of the game, he had Diontae Johnson for a 75-yard touchdown. He ran a go ball and he tried to hit Pat [Freiermuth] on the crossing. If he hits that, now all of a sudden, we are not talking about running the ball. He found Diontae later, but he also missed him on a deep crosser too.”
Footbahlin with Ben Roethlisberger | YouTube
Roethlisberger for most of his career was one of the best in the NFL at throwing the deep ball. He definitely gave Pickett credit for taking shots, but pointed out that he still had work to do in identifying what is available to him on the football field. The pass to Diontae Johnson was a risk, but a calculated one on a scripted play for the former Pitt Panther.
“I was sitting with Charlie [Batch],” Roethlisberger continued. “He saw it too. I said, 'Chuck that’s one,' you knew that was your first play and you knew that is what you’re going to have. You see that single high safety coming down, he should have thought, I am letting this ball go, whether it’s complete or not, you just set the tone for the Saints. That would have made them all backup.”
Arron Anastasia / Pittsburgh Steelers
Pickett was not conservative, but he was measured and threw the ball over the middle of the field by design or decision consistently during the game. The rookie quarterback made a lot of sound decisions and took what the defense gave him on Sunday, but Roethlisberger’s point is valid. If Pickett connects on two long scoring plays, the Steelers signal caller would have over 300 yards passing and the team would have scored 30 plus points.
“I thought overall, he played well,” Roethlisberger concludes. “I thought his feet were awesome. Running the ball, I think he had over 50 yards. He’s a better runner than me. He runs to run; I was running to throw. I didn’t think he should have played this early. This would have been the first week I would have played him, and he would be 1-0.”
It is hard to say that Pickett would have played within himself if this was his first game. The mistakes he made going 1-3 before the bye were valuable experience, but it was painful for the fan base. Mitch Trubisky could have gotten the Steelers to 2-6 at the bye week, but Mike Tomlin made the decision after a locker room confrontation with Johnson to switch to Pickett in Week 4 and you can’t un-ring the bell.
The good news is that after the bye, the offense improved, and they still have not played their best game. They face the Cincinnati Bengals on Sunday, and the Steelers will need another step forward by the entire offense at home to potentially sweep the defending AFC Champions and move closer to the Baltimore Ravens in the standings. If the Steelers can remain balanced on Sunday and continue to score 20+, they may have found a viable recipe for meaningful December football games.
What do you think, Steeler Nation? Are you happy with Kenny Pickett’s progress? Please comment below, or on my Twitter @thebubbasq.
