As the NFL calendar draws closer to the start of the 2023 season, the hype and overall expectations for the Pittsburgh Steelers are seemingly on the rise.
Much of the hype surrounds second-year quarterback Kenny Pickett, who was rather strong down the stretch in 2022, helping Pittsburgh go 7-2 in the second half of the season to finish 9-8. Along with Pickett, a rebuilt defense has the Steelers on the cusp of being a rather strong team under head coach Mike Tomlin, though the AFC overall is loaded top to bottom.
When it comes to success in the 2023 season for the Black and Gold, it’s rather clear what the Steelers need, at least according to NFL Network’s Mike Garafolo. The three keys for a successful season for the Steelers are Pickett’s emergence, an improvement in Year 3 from offensive coordinator Matt Canada, and a dominant defense overall, Garafalo said Friday morning on Good Morning Football.
“It’s about heart size for Kenny Pickett, with the fourth quarter comebacks from him last year. Four of them! His quarterbacks coach Mike Sullivan, former Giants assistant coach, quarterbacks coach with them. Wide receivers as well. Eli Manning was pretty good with fourth quarter comebacks. He know what it takes to be a quarterback in the NFL to play well when you need to play well at the right time of the game. He sees it in Kenny Pickett,” Garafolo said, via video from NFL.com. “So we’ve seen that so far. He needs to continue that.”
Pickett knows how to play late in games, leading those four fourth-quarter comebacks and three game-winning drives.
Pickett certainly has the “it” factor for the position. He’s as calm, cool, collected and confident late in games on potential game-winning drives as he is on the first series or two of a game. The stakes don’t faze him. Neither do the bright lights nor the overall moment.
Though he’s just 13 games into his career and the numbers don’t look all that great, it certainly feels like the Steelers have the right guy for the job moving forward, based on his leadership, moxie and overall confidence, especially in weighty, pressure-packed moments. Nothing ever feels too big for him, and he has an unwavering confidence that he can get the job done.
If Pickett can make that Year 2 leap many are expecting, especially considering how often the Year 2 leaps have occurred for other young quarterbacks in recent seasons, the Steelers will be in a great spot, seemingly having figured out the most important position in sports rather quickly.
Along with Pickett’s growth and continued strong play in big moments, a successful season comes down to the growth of Canada as the offensive coordinator.
“The offensive coordinator is catching a lot of flack in Pittsburgh. A lot of folks are still not sold on him, but he’s showed down the stretch that he’s able to execute what Mike Tomlin, and what upper management wants, which is an offense that can run the football,” Garafolo said. “Eight of the last nine games, they were over a hundred yards after, previously before that last season, only having three games over a hundred yards. So yeah, he’s been given a task. ‘We want to be a run first team. We’ve been that way in the past. We wanna continue to be that way.’ He has done that. So Matt Canada has to continue that and execute that on that side of the ball and make them an effective offense.”
Pittsburgh has had its struggles the first two years with Canada in charge of the offense.
Last season, the Steelers scored a touchdown on only 51.92% of the times they were inside the 20, which was 21st in the NFL. In Canada’s two years as OC, the Steelers have finished 21st and 26th in points per game, respectively. They’ve lacked explosive plays — 102 of them gaining 20+ yards since 2021, tied just 28th in the league over that span — while their red zone offense has been 23rd both years.
Pittsburgh seemed to find something in the second half of last season offensively, becoming the No. 7 rushing offense in the NFL after the Week 9 bye, winning a number of games to battle back into playoff contention.
Along with Pickett’s continued development and play in big moments and the growth of Canada in Year 3, a successful season for the Steelers will come down to its dominant defense being just that — dominant — in 2023, according to Garafolo.
“Dominant defense. Cam Heyward mentioned recently that ‘we have the capability to be dominant.’ This was a team that did a great job down the back stretch last year. Everything really came together down the back stretch if you’re picking up on a theme. So can the Steelers take that momentum and continue going forward?” Garafolo said. “He says we have the pieces to be quote dominant. We just have to have that mindset week in and week out. So let’s see if the rest of the defense can follow Heyward’s advice and be dominant in 2023.”
Late in the season, the Steelers had a seven-game stretch in which they didn’t allow more than 17 points. That dominant stretch coincided with the return of star outside linebacker T.J. Watt to full health as well as veteran safety Damontae Kazee.
Granted, it also helped that Pittsburgh’s schedule got easier in the second half of the season, but the players still had to go out and perform, and they did just that. Now, with some new faces like Patrick Peterson, Keanu Neal, Cole Holcomb, Elandon Roberts and rookies Joey Porter Jr. and Keeanu Benton, Pittsburgh will be up for a challenge defensively, but has the star power to be a dominant defense once again.
Quarterback, offensive coordinator and the defense: that’s what a “successful season” will come down to for the Steelers.
