Throughout the offseason, much of the attention offensively has been focused on starting fast, putting together strong drives and putting points on the board.
After two preseason games, things are looking very, very good in that area of the game for the Pittsburgh Steelers — especially quarterback Kenny Pickett.
Saturday night inside Acrisure Stadium, Pickett again looked very sharp and in command, playing with great timing and sharpness overall. Though second-year running back Jaylen Warren stole the show on the opening drive with a 62-yard touchdown run on the sixth play of the drive, Pickett had the Steelers clicking early.
It was a continuation of what the second-year pro displayed on the road against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers to open the preseason. On time, accurate, in rhythm and largely taking what was there.
Against the Buffalo Bills, Pickett was 2-for-3 on the opening drive for 18 yards. That isn’t all that impressive on paper, but it’s deeper than that.
On the second play from scrimmage after a 3-yard Najee Harris run, Pickett threw a dart to second-year receiver George Pickens on a stop route for a gain of 8 yards, moving the chains.
Really strong rhythm and process here from Pickett. Snap, set the feet, fire.
On time, perfect ball placement to Pickens on the outside shoulder allowing him to turn and run, and a job well done on a quick timing route designed to get Pickett into the game. Great job in and out of the break by Pickens, too. Plenty of separation there that allows him to turn and gain another 3 yards upfield to move the chains.
The play is slowed down a bit above, but that’s a lightning-quick release from Pickett. Well-designed play by third-year offensive coordinator Matt Canada to get Pickett into rhythm at home with a good timing route early on.
After the quick strike to Pickens, Pickett attempted two more passes on the opening drive, both intended for veteran wide receiver Allen Robinson II, who was acquired via trade before the 2023 NFL Draft.
A little quick bailing out of a clean pocket here from Pickett, but at least from the TV angle it doesn’t appear that anything is really opening up with routes run to the sticks on second and 7.
That’s a nice job to create the comfortable pocket by the offensive line overall, too. Right tackle Chukwuma Okorafor runs Greg Rousseau up the field, but Pickett bails a bit too early. Instead of stepping up, he takes off. He steps up just a bit as there’s a great pocket overall.
But once he starts to scramble, he cuts the field in half, creating a scramble drill for the receivers.
You can see Diontae Johnson at the bottom of the screen try to turn it up field and Harris is trying to work back across the field. Still nothing there. Only option for Pickett is to try and fire a strike downfield on the move to Robinson, who has two defenders in the vicinity.
Still, it’s a great throw from Pickett on the run. There is contact early with Robinson though before the ball arrives, leading to the incompletion. It’s uncalled though, setting up a third and 7. Not exactly the greatest play design here for the Steelers against the look the Bills give, but Pickett makes the most of it on the run and throws a great ball that should have drawn a flag.
Very next rep, Pickett again throws a dart on the move, moving the chains.
Pickett is able to identify the zone coverage with the quick motion from Robinson. No player moves with him, signaling zone. As the ball is snapped, Buffalo’s defenders drop into their zones.
Robinson does a good job of getting past the sticks and sitting into the hole in the zone, showing Pickett his numbers. While this occurs from Robinson, Pickett has a bit of traffic around him in the pocket, and James Daniels has to run the defensive tackle up the field past Pickett, creating a lane to step up into.
Pickett makes the right call and steps up, throwing on the run to Robinson to move the chains. The ball is right on the money between the number 11 on Robinson’s chest. From there, Robinson turns it upfield for a couple more yards, moving the chains before taking a big hit. Another good rhythm play from Pickett, who looked exceptionally sharp early.
That continued after the Warren 62-yard run and then the Calvin Austin III 54-yard punt return.
After the punt return, Pickett was dialed in entirely, throwing tight end Pat Freiermuth open for a 25-yard score as Steelers Depot’s own Alex Kozora highlighted here. A master-class performance from Pickett again, who finished 3-of-4 for 43 yards and a touchdown, exiting the game after the touchdown pass to Freiermuth.
In three series so far in the preseason, Pickett is 9-for-11 for 103 yards and two touchdowns. One incompletion against Tampa Bay was a throwaway to avoid a sack. The incompletion on Saturday night should have been a penalty for pass interference.
Starting fast was a real issue for Pittsburgh last season. That includes opening possessions offensively and first-quarter points under Canada.
On opening-possession drives in 2022, Pittsburgh scored points on just six of 17 them, including just two touchdowns, according to Stathead. Those touchdowns accounted for just 11.8 percent of the drives, while the four field goals accounted for 23.5 percent. On the other 11 opening-possession drives, Pittsburgh punted 10 times and turned the football over once.
Only the Baltimore Ravens, Indianapolis Colts, New York Jets and Green Bay Packers scored fewer opening-possession touchdowns last season with just one apiece. Houston had the fewest opening-possession scoring drives last season with just two, according to Stathead.
Pittsburgh scored just 60 first quarter points all season in 2022, allowing just 76. That accounts for just 3.5 points per game in the first quarter. That’s…not good at all.
The fast starts the first two preseason games of the year are certainly intriguing and show signs of the Steelers coming out with urgency and figuring things out quickly. That’s quite a welcome development for the Steelers, who were one of the least-explosive offenses in football last season and scored just 18.1 points per game, second worst in the NFL in 2022.
It starts with Pickett looking in rhythm, on time and being very accurate early in the game. The Steelers go as he goes. So far, he’s on fire.
