The Pittsburgh Steelers second offensive touchdown came on a 25-yard dart by QB Kenny Pickett to TE Pat Freiermuth over the middle, giving the Steelers a 14-0 lead over the Buffalo Bills in the first quarter. Pittsburgh went on to win 27-15, and Pickett and Freiermuth both talked about the touchdown after the game.
“Coverage took me there,” Pickett said via the team’s YouTube channel. “There’s no such thing as a primary on any coverage, coverage changes every primary and where you start with your eyes, so that’s what dictated me to go there.”
He said the Bills were in Cover 2, and once he saw they brought a safety over the top to take away Diontae Johnson in single coverage, he pivoted to Freiermuth.
“Cover Two, same thing. I wanted ‘Tae singled up, they ended up putting the safety over the top and I had Pat and the linebacker down the middle,” Pickett said. “So it was a good matchup that we kind of talked about leading up to this game.”
Freiermuth said the placement of the touchdown was a sign of how much the second-year quarterback has grown.
“That was the perfect ball placement that it needed to be, protected me from taking a big hit. It was an awesome ball,” Freiermuth said via Chris Adamski of TribLive.
With the Bills in Cover 2, there was a tight window, if any for Johnson to be open with him being carried upfield by a corner before getting passed off to a safety. With the safeties responsible for their zone, and their primary responsibility to watch the outside receivers, Freiermuth was lined up in single coverage with a linebacker up the seam for the majority of the route. Pickett was able to hit Freiermuth right before the safety rotated back over the middle, placing the ball perfectly to set his tight end up for the score.
Not only was it an impressive ball, but it was a good sign to see Pickett and the Steelers utilize the middle of the field, an area the offense virtually ignored last season. They need to attack the middle of the field in order to be successful in 2023, and twice now in two preseason games, Pickett has been able to find Freiermuth in the middle of the field.
While the play last week was good for a first down, a 25-yard touchdown obviously provides much more splash and is a better sign that Pittsburgh is going to attack over the middle.
Pickett’s a smart quarterback, so it’s no surprise that he was able to adapt and change his primary read on the fly. But it was the combination of his mental acuity coupled with his physical ability to put the throw exactly where it needed to be to prevent Freiermuth from getting blown up by the rotating safety while still allowing him to make the grab and get in for the score.
It was another impressive performance from Pickett. As he continues to play well, the more confident I am he can take a serious leap this season. With Pittsburgh having one final preseason game before the regular season starts, we’ll see if Pickett can continue to build off his strong performance.
