It took 16 games, but Pittsburgh Steelers QB Kenny Pickett recorded his first multi-touchdown game Sunday night against the Las Vegas Raiders.
Pickett completed 16-of-28 pass attempts for 235 yards and two touchdowns in the Steelers’ 23-18 win. He connected with WR Calvin Austin III for a 72-yard bomb down the middle of the field, resulting in Pittsburgh second-consecutive game with a 70-plus yard touchdown pass. He also connected with TE Pat Freiermuth on a 13-yard touchdown in the red zone, giving Pittsburgh a 23-7 lead.
After getting his first regular-season action coming off the bench at halftime last season in Week Four against the New York Jets, Pickett went the entire 2022 season without throwing multiple touchdown passes in a single game. He finished his rookie year with only seven passing touchdowns, managing a multiple rushing touchdown performance in his first regular season appearance, rushing for two scores against the Jets in a comeback effort.
Pickett finished the 2022 season with a touchdown pass in three-straight games and followed that up with a red-hot preseason performance. He fell back to Earth in Week One of the regular season, throwing one touchdown pass along with two interceptions as the San Francisco 49ers defense rattled him all afternoon. His shaky play continued to Week Two against the Cleveland Browns, throwing one touchdown and one interception while competing just 50% of his passes.
Pickett was able to get into more of a groove in this game, connecting on the deep shot as well as moving the ball down the field and sustaining a few drives that reached enemy territory. There were still moments of shakiness where Pickett and the receivers didn’t appear to be on the same page, but it was a notable step forward in performance from the first two weeks of the season on Sunday night. Pickett needed to hit that milestone as it was long overdue, and hopefully with the monkey off his back, we will see more multi-touchdown games from Pickett going forward this season.
