The first two weeks of the 2023 season were rather rough for second-year Pittsburgh Steelers quarterback Kenny Pickett.
He looked unsure of himself, didn’t trust his eyes and lost all sense of accuracy — a strength of his — at times, missing layup throws that really bogged down the offense.
That changed a bit on Sunday night in Week Three against the Las Vegas Raiders.
Pickett looked much more comfortable and confident within the offensive scheme and turned in one of the best performances of his young career, completing 16-of-28 passes for 235 yards and the first two-touchdown game of his career through the air.
Though it wasn’t pretty the entire night, Pickett settled in nicely and had a good performance for the Steelers, who held on late for a 23-18 win over the Raiders. That performance from Pickett was rather pleasing for NFL Network analyst Daniel Jeremiah.
On the latest episode of his “Move The Sticks” podcast with co-hosts Bucky Brooks and Rhett Lewis, Jeremiah praised Pickett for his performance.
“Kenny Pickett, I thought he played well. I thought he trusted his eyes, and I thought he threw the ball well. I thought it made sense what they were doing. They mixed in some screens, they took shots down the field,” Jeremiah said, according to audio via the podcast. “He looked like…I don’t want to say screw it, but he was just like, ‘You know what? I’m just going to play. I’m going to sit back here, hit my back foot, trust it and let it rip.’
“There was no hesitancy. I thought he was a little unsure early in the season those first few games, and I thought tonight was more of a ‘screw-it’ game where he was like ‘You know what? No, I’m going to take my shots and use my legs.’ …with their defense, if he plays at that level, they’re going to be a playoff team.”
In the first two weeks of the season that hesitancy was very prominent within Pickett’s game. He was unsure of what he was seeing, wasn’t getting many pre-snap answers within the scheme and from the defense, and really just looked lost at times after a perfect preseason — literally.
That all changed on Sunday night.
Though he continues to bail out of clean pockets and runs himself into sacks at times, Pickett hung in there on the 72-yard touchdown pass to Calvin Austin III, took a shot on the throw and then really found his groove after that play.
As Jeremiah pointed out, Pickett was very decisive and really just trusted his abilities. He let it rip and wasn’t overthinking things. The hesitancy was gone from his game, and when confidence returns the way it did Sunday night, Pickett plays loose and free. He looked like the quarterback we saw late in his rookie season and then throughout training camp.
That’s a positive sign overall. Hopefully it’s the start of Pickett climbing out of the hole he’s created for himself this season and can start to fulfill some of the promise he had coming into the year.
