For the first four weeks of the season, Pittsburgh Steelers QB Kenny Pickett has been shaky, at best in terms of his performance.
Through four games, the Steelers were 2-2 with the offense struggling mightily to get anything going in the running game or through the air. Pickett had completed 60.6% of his passes for 803 yards and four touchdowns with four interceptions, posting a passer rating of 76.3 and a QBR of 29.4, according to Pro Football Reference. Things weren’t looking good for Pickett and the offense again today against the Baltimore Ravens as Pickett consistently got pressured in the pocket and again struggled to sustain drives in enemy territory.
However, things changed in the fourth quarter when Pittsburgh managed to score 12 points (two field goals and a touchdown), including the game-winning touchdown pass from Pickett to WR George Pickens with 1:17 remaining in the game. Pickens was asked about Pickett’s performance with the game on the line and if that gives the Steelers more confidence in their starting quarterback going forward. Pickens responded that it wasn’t only important to see Pickett deliver for the offense, but also for the defense, which played a heck of a game to keep Pittsburgh in it, giving the offense a chance to go win the game late.
“I’d probably say it give the defense a lot of confidence too,” Pickens said to the media via video from the Steelers’ YouTube channel. “When you play intangibles, you know a defense can feed off an offense and an offense can feed off a defense. It’s just remarkable. And I feel like right then the defense was feeding off us and we were feeding off them.”
The offense and the defense fed off each other quite well in the waiting moments of the game. CB Joey Porter Jr. picked off QB Lamar Jackson in the end zone with 4:04 left in the fourth quarter, giving Pittsburgh life and a chance to drive down the field and take the lead. That’s exactly what they did, scoring on a 41-yard touchdown strike from Pickett to Pickens. That put Pittsburgh’s defense in great position to go hunt Jackson with its pass rush, having OLB Alex Highsmith get a sack-forced fumble, which the defense recovered. That gave the offense another opportunity to put a field goal on the board.
Great teams have their offense and defense feed off each other. The defense gives the offense the ball back via turnovers as well as keeping the opponent out of the end zone while the offense gives the defense a lead to pin its ears back and make the opposing offense one-dimensional. We would like to see Pittsburgh achieve this synergy earlier in the game, but the last five minutes of the game today could go any better than they did in Pittsburgh’s favor. The offense and defense got hot, feeding off each other for a game-sealing performance.
