It’s been a rather rocky start to his second NFL season for Pittsburgh Steelers quarterback Kenny Pickett.
After a ton of hype and anticipation throughout the offseason, Pickett hasn’t quite lived up to the billing through the season’s first three games. Though the Steelers are 2-1 on the season, Pickett has completed just 59.1% of his passes for 689 yards, four touchdowns and three interceptions.
He had his first-ever NFL multi-touchdown game passing in Week Three on the road against the Las Vegas Raiders and now gets an interesting matchup against the frisky Houston Texans, who have a similar defensive scheme to the one the San Francisco 49ers have, which really gave Pickett fits in Week One.
That doesn’t bother Good Morning Football co-host Peter Schrager though. In fact, Schrager sees Pickett having a career day on Sunday inside NRG Stadium while “shutting up” the critics.
“Last week on Sunday Night Football, Kenny Pickett looked alive. He made some plays. You’ve got the Houston Texans this week. Statement game, bounce-back game,” Schrager said, according to video via NFL.com. “‘Shut up, I’m still the guy we thought I was gonna be in August.’ I think Pickett throws for 300 [yards] and three touchdowns, and suddenly we’re talking about the Steelers being 3-1 going into Week Five and they’re one of the powers in the AFC.”
Pickett certainly looked alive in Week Three, playing quite well after a rough start. Early in the game Pickett bailed out of clean pockets and missed a couple of throws that should have been easy completions. Then, he ripped a perfect strike to second-year receiver Calvin Austin III for a 72-yard touchdown and the confidence returned.
After that, Pickett played quite well. The Steelers got him on the move more, utilized play-action more than they have all season and watched Pickett really make some plays with his arm in the passing game, providing real balance offensively.
Now, he faces a Houston defense that really stymied the Jacksonville Jaguars in Week Three in a 37-17 win. That didn’t stop Schrager from being bold.
If Pickett were to throw for 300 yards and three touchdowns, it would be a career day. Pickett has one 300-yard passing game in his career and that came in his first career start against the Buffalo Bills in Week Five of the 2022 season in a 38-3 loss. Pickett completed 34-of-52 passes that day for 327 yards and an interception.
Since then, the most passing yards in a game from Pickett is 265 yards he had against the Cincinnati Bengals in Week 11 last season in a 37-30 loss. As is well known, too, Pickett has thrown for multiple touchdowns in a game just once, and that came last week with him throwing two.
Throwing for 300-plus yards and three touchdowns against a strong secondary feels like a bit of a stretch, but Schrager is a believer based on what he saw from Pickett in Week Three. Let’s see if the young quarterback can take the next step forward and build off a good performance in primetime.
