What is the signature play of the NFL career of Pittsburgh Steelers quarterback Kenny Pickett to date? Sure, it’s only been one season, but the answer to that question must be the touchdown pass to running back Najee Harris late in the week 17 road game against the Baltimore Ravens.
When it comes to that particular play, and especially the few days after it happened, there were several fans and analysts who believed that Pickett was attempting to throw that football to wide receiver Steven Sims, who was in the end zone and thus behind Harris. In his recent interview on the Footbahlin with Ben Roethlisberger podcast, Pickett was asked about that touchdown throw against the Ravens and who it was really intended for.
“Okay, so the season is long gone. The season’s over. You weren’t throwing that ball to him,” former Steelers quarterback Ben Roethlisberger told Pickett.
After Pickett said he was definitely throwing the football to Harris on that play and not Sims, Roethlisberger still didn’t want to buy the answer.
“No, you were not,” Roethlisberger fired back. “No, you were throwing – Sims was right behind him.”
Pickett then responded back to that playful rebuttal from Roethlisberger.
“If I was throwing to Sims though, it was way behind Sims,” Pickett fired back.
Roethlisberger still didn’t believe Pickett, however.
“I was watching your eyes and I’m like, no, no way,” Roethlisberger said. “No one throws a ball that hard to the running back right there. But good job.”
Well, that was a fun banter back and forth and it’s obvious that Roethlisberger still believes that pass was intended for Sims and not Harris. At this point, however, it really doesn’t matter. What matters is the outcome, and the outcome was a touchdown pass to Harris with a little less than a minute to go in the game. That touchdown put the Steelers ahead 16-13 and they obviously held on to win that game, which kept their playoff chances alive.
While that late game-winning drive is one that Pickett surely won’t forget soon, he told Roethlisberger that he also remembers the game-winning drive he failed to finish against the Miami Dolphins earlier in the season.
“I failed in the Miami game,” Pickett told Roethlisberger. “We got down there, we were close, forced a stupid play trying to make a play when I should’ve just took off and got out of bounds.”
Pickett, however, believes that experience against the Dolphins helped him later in the season and especially against the Ravens in Week 17 and the week prior in the Steelers’ home win against the Las Vegas Raiders.
“So, learning from those experiences really helped me to the back half of the season where we were successful. Yeah, Raiders and Baltimore week,” Pickett said.
We’ll now look forward to Pickett possibly making even more thrilling plays in 2023 like the one he made against the Ravens late last season. That was a fun play to watch at the time, regardless of who the football may or may not have been intended for.
