The Pittsburgh Steelers offense didn’t exactly inspire confidence on Monday night. Despite the win, they were outgained by the Browns by over 150 yards. For the second week in a row, the Steelers offense only recorded one touchdown.
But what a touchdown it was. In the mid-second quarter, QB Kenny Pickett found WR George Pickens wide open across the middle around their own 45-yard line. Pickens did the rest, taking it all the way to the house for a 71-yard score.
There was one big difference for the Browns on this play, as pointed out by Head Coach Mike Tomlin on the Mike Tomlin Show today.
“Most significantly Myles Garrett wasn’t in.” Tomlin told host Bob Pompeani. “You gotta be really cautious about the islands that you put your tackles on when you’re trying to throw the ball down the field. We saw an opportunity there. We worked the playaction component of it and found [Pickens]. And he was able to do what he does, which is run to space and deliver splash plays. And it was a significant play in the game. But obviously, there weren’t enough of them.”
While Myles Garrett didn’t post gaudy numbers on Monday night, he was still giving Dan Moore all he could handle every play. The Steelers didn’t take a ton of shots down the field against the Browns’ defense, and it seems like this was in large part due to Garrett looming as a threat. Garrett played 76 percent of the snaps on Monday night, as the Browns subbed fairly frequently within the front seven.
Pickett ranks in the bottom five of the league in air yards per attempt this season at just 3.1. He’s only ahead of the Colts’ Anthony Richardson, Jets’ Zach Wilson, Panthers’ Bryce Young, and surprisingly the Bengals’ Joe Burrow. While Pickett doesn’t have the biggest arm, it is interesting that he ranks this low when they have a downfield playmaker like George Pickens on the team.
However, they have faced two of the better pass rushes in the NFL over the first two weeks. And while the offense hasn’t been looking to take those big shots, it may just be a product of their opponents rather than a larger gameplan Tomlin is looking to employ.
We hopefully will see more chunk plays from Pickens and the offense in Week 3 against the Las Vegas Raiders. The team will face their third straight elite pass rusher however, in Maxx Crosby. When he’s off the field, you might see Pickett take another deep shot.
