The entire Pittsburgh Steelers offense didn’t look good Sunday against San Francisco. The running game was non-existent from the get-go while QB Kenny Pickett and the passing game had a tough time getting in sync as he missed receivers left and right in an uncharacteristic manner.
Pickett’s poor Week One performance was reflected in a recent piece by CBS Sports’ Benjamin. In his latest NFL QB Power Rankings, Benjamin dropped Pickett five spots to 28th overall.
“Few young QBs saw their stock dip as drastically in Week 1, where he looked totally out of sorts up against the 49ers,” Benjamin wrote of Pickett. “Pickett has the right attitude for the NFL, but now without Diontae Johnson, his struggles could continue.”
The only quarterbacks ranked below Pickett after Week One are Panthers QB Bryce Young, Falcons QB Desmond Ridder, Jets QB Zach Wilson, and Cardinals QB Joshua Dobbs.
That’s uninspiring company for Pickett to be around as he was just being touted as the potential top breakout candidate in the league after a stellar preseason performance. Pickett was literally perfect across three preseason games, with a perfect passer rating after the first-team offense ran on all cylinders, getting chunk plays through the air as well as completing passes in short and intermediate parts of the field to stay on-schedule. That was not the case Sunday in a 30-7 loss to the 49ers. Pickett looked anxious in the pocket, forcing passes where they shouldn’t have gone, resulting in two interceptions and finishing with a dismal quarterback rating of 23.8.
Pickett must get back on track against the Cleveland Browns on Monday night if he wishes to continue that optimism that Pittsburgh has found its next franchise guy. Head coach Mike Tomlin said Tuesday that he fully expects Pickett to bounce back given his work ethic and dedication to the game. Still, the results will speak for themselves when the Browns come to Pittsburgh for a primetime game, having made Bengals QB Joe Burrow and the high-flying Cincinnati offense look pedestrian in their Week One matchup.
