The Pittsburgh Steelers as a whole struggled in their 30-7 loss to the San Francisco 49ers last Sunday, and that started with second-year QB Kenny Pickett. Pickett was off on his accuracy, throwing two interceptions and missing Diontae Johnson on a slant route that should’ve been a walk-in touchdown. It just wasn’t a good day for Pickett, but he told reporters today that he’s comfortable with his decision-making, and the issue was his execution throwing the ball.
“I was good with my decisions, it was just throwing it and the execution,” Pickett said via Jeff Hathhorn of 93.7 The Fan.
The Steelers failed to pick up a first down until there was 1:24 to go in the first half, with Pickett struggling to hit his receivers and the Steelers offense sputtering with four three-and-outs and one turnover up to that point. Pickett got going in the two-minute drill, an area where he’s shown he can succeed in the past, and he was a little bit better in the second half until a poorly thrown ball with 10:08 left in the game was intercepted by S Talanoa Hufanga.
Pickett’s accuracy and execution haven’t really been major issues, but he did struggle with turnovers in the first half of last season. Some of that was a byproduct of his receivers failing to make plays. Some of it was just poor decision-making. Generally, besides the second interception, Pickett’s decision-making really wasn’t bad.
The first interception was largely due to WR Diontae Johnson falling on his route, and even the second pick was Pickett just trying to force a ball deep to make something happen for an offense that didn’t have anything going for it. He also didn’t have a lot to work with, as Matt Canada didn’t call a good game, but for the most part, he was looking at the right guys. He just couldn’t execute.
The fact that it hasn’t been a real issue in the past leads one to believe that it won’t be a recurring issue this season with Pickett. The Steelers ran into a buzzsaw with the San Francisco defense being among the best in the league, and the offensive line didn’t hold up all that well. Pickett was sacked five times and was constantly under pressure. That surely affected his accuracy and ball placement.
If Pickett again struggles with his accuracy on Monday night against the Cleveland Browns, then we can start looking deeper into if there’s a real issue there. It undeniably was a problem against San Francisco, but it’s an issue that Pickett recognized and is working on this week. We’ll see if he’s better against Cleveland or if the accuracy problems rear their ugly head again in a pivotal divisional matchup.
