This drumbeat for the Pittsburgh Steelers has progressively gotten louder throughout the course of the preseason. One of the first to pick up a stick was Rich Eisen of the Rich Eisen Show.
The long-time sports analyst once again sang the Steelers praises on Friday after the team stomped the Atlanta Falcons 24-0 the previous night. When running through a list of potential AFC contenders, Eisen noted that the Black and Gold deserve to be mentioned in that camp, in large part, due to the success of QB Kenny Pickett and WR George Pickens.
“Let me tell you something about Pickett to Pickens,” Eisen said. “Kenny Pickett has had five drives in the preseason. All of them touchdowns. George Pickens has been targeted just three times in the preseason. All of them for first downs, one of them for touchdowns…what if Pickett to Pickens is the pick to click?”
A lot has been made of the connection between the second-year receiver and quarterback but based off of the stats between the two last year, it’s warranted. When targeting Pickens, Pickett had the highest QBR to a single target of any combination in the league with a minimum of 50 targets. Furthermore, the duo seems to have improved in the offseason, evident by the samples put forth in the preseason, most recently their connection on a 35-yard deep ball against the Falcons.
Pickett has been the most notable overachiever throughout the three weeks of the preseason going 13-of-15 for 199 yards, two touchdowns and a perfect 158.3 passer rating. More impressive to Coach Mike Tomlin has been the gunslinger’s leadership and comfortability at the helm, which he cited in his postgame press conference last night.
This and the Steelers’ overall play had Eisen revisit a claim his co-host Chris Brockman made on a segment called “Overreaction Monday” where he said the Steelers will win the AFC North, saying he doesn’t think it’s an overreaction.
Currently, the Steelers have the worst odds at +450 to win the division and +6000 to win the Super Bowl, per BetMGM.
Without Tomlin here to comment on those odds I’ll do my best impression by piecing together two of his most iconic ones.
“We do not care.”
“The standard is the standard.”
