Steelers' Kenny Pickett Confirms Beautiful Game-Winning Touchdown Pass Was An Audible Put In During Practice

The Pittsburgh Steelers had their typical game against the Baltimore Ravens in Week 5. It wasn't pretty, but Pittsburgh found a way to make plays in all three phases of the game. They squeaked out a victory against their division rival and reclaimed the top spot in the AFC North. The offense didn't particularly play well and it got off to it's routine slow start. However, Kenny Pickett and the rest of the unit were able to eliminate turnovers and do just enough when it mattered most.

Steelers' Pickett Calls Game-Winning Audible

For the majority of the game, the offense looked fairly stagnant as they were only able to score three points in the first three quarters of the game. To begin the fourth quarter, the Steelers gained a ton of momentum when Miles Killebrew blocked a punt by the Ravens. This resulted in a safety for the Steelers and Pittsburgh getting the ball. The score was now 10-5 with the Steelers getting the ball. They moved the ball some and got it far enough down the field for Chris Boswell to kick another field goal to make the score 10-8, still in favor of Baltimore. 

The Steelers next got the ball back at the tail end of the fourth quarter, and absolutely needed a score if they wanted any chance to win. It was second and nine at the Baltimore 41-yard line, and Pickett clearly made some pre-snap adjustments once he saw how the Baltimore defense was lined up. He hit George Pickens on a go route that resulted in a 41-yard touchdown to give the Steelers the lead, and they never gave it up. 

There was a lot of speculation since the game ended that the play was not called by Offensive Coordinator Matt Canada, but rather it was Pickett changing the play at the line of scrimmage. Pickett confirmed this thought while talking to the media on Tuesday, and clarified that he changed the protection and the route Pickens was running on the play. 

"Yeah it was protection and then route. They went zero I wanted to make sure we were protected and gave George the route. He went and made a great play. It's something that we've worked all week on, so it's awesome when you put a lot of time into something and it comes up in a crucial moment like that to win a divisional game in the two minute drill. It's awesome."

Although this was something the team had worked on in practice leading up to the game, this could definitely explain why Canada was so nonchalant in the Steelers offensive coaches box after the touchdown. 

A lead-changing 41-yard touchdown pass with just one minute left seems like something that would be worth celebrating for an offensive coordinator, however Canada's facial expression didn't change one bit. Everyone around him was celebrating, yet he remained stone faced. This led to some thinking that Canada didn't like Pickett's decision to change the play at the line of scrimmage, and that he was frowning upon the offense for not running the play he called. 

Canada could have had good reason to be upset though. The Steelers were down just two points at the time of this touchdown. They were at the Ravens 41-yard line and it was second down. Baltimore had two timeouts left and there was still one minute and :17 seconds left in the game. Canada and the rest of the coaching staff could have been playing for a field goal and wanted to force the Ravens to use the last of their timeouts so they had no chance to come back to win the game. 

When Pickett audibled and the offense scored on the play, they left over a minute on the clock and the Ravens didn't need to use any of their timeouts. Had it not been for the defense consistently making plays at the end of the game, the Ravens could have had an opportunity to get back into the game. 

It's understandable for fans to be upset at Canada for not celebrating the touchdown with the team. It doesn't mean he was upset at Pickett for not running the play that he had called, he was likely just thinking about strategy to win the game and wanted to run the clock out some more so Baltimore wouldn't have a chance to come back.

What do you think about Canada's reaction to the touchdown? Let us know in the comments below!

#SteelerNation