Through the first three quarters of the Week Seven matchup between the Los Angeles Rams and the Pittsburgh Steelers at SoFi Stadium, second-year Steelers quarterback Kenny Pickett and the rest of Pittsburgh’s offense looked like an absolute train wreck coming out of the bye week.
To that point in the game, the Steelers trailed 17-10, had just six first downs, were 1-for-7 on the third down and — most importantly — had just 110 yards of total offense.
The score was only as close as it was because of star outside linebacker T.J. Watt’s interception to open the second half that gave the Steelers’ offense the football inside the 10-yard line, setting up Pickett’s 1-yard QB sneak.
But once the quarter changed from the third to the fourth, Pickett and the Steelers’ offense came alive, roaring all the way back to pull off a rather shocking 24-17 win over the Rams to move to 4-2 on the season.
For former NFL defensive end and current podcast host of the “Green Light Pod” Chris Long, Pickett made some “big-boy throws” in the fourth quarter, helping Pittsburgh get going offensively and mount the comeback.
“I thought Kenny Pickett made some big-boy throws. He made some big-boy throws,” Long said of Pickett, according to video the Green Light Pod’s YouTube page. “I love seeing the back-shoulder throw to George Pickens on the left sideline …I just thought this was a big spot for them. I didn’t think they’d win this game, Kyle.”
Long wasn’t alone in thinking the Steelers wouldn’t win the game, even coming off of the bye week.
Historically, the Steelers are bad under head coach Mike Tomlin on the West Coast, even though those West Coast numbers of 3-7 under Tomlin clashed significantly against his record of 12-4 after the bye entering the matchup, including winning six straight after the week off.
Throughout the first three quarters, it certainly looked like the Steelers wouldn’t win the game as the Rams were largely doing whatever they wanted offensively and really shut down the Steelers’ offense.
Entering the fourth quarter, the 110 total yards of offense was abysmal. Then, Pickett and the Steelers caught fire.
In the final 15 minutes of action, Pickett was 7-of-7 for 138 yards, hitting wide receiver Diontae Johnson for a big 39-yard catch-and-run, setting up running back Jaylen Warren’s 13-yard touchdown run.
Then, Pickett hit wide receiver George Pickens for a gain of 30 yards over the middle on a key third down, hanging in while taking a shot from Aaron Donald to move the chains. That ultimately helped set up running back Najee Harris’ 3-yard touchdown run to give the Steelers the lead, one they wouldn’t relinquish on the way to the win.
Pickett had a number of clutch throws, including the explosive plays to Johnson and Pickens. He also had a 21-yard strike to Pickens on a back-shoulder ball, an 11-yard throw to tight end Connor Heyward that set up Harris’ 3-yard touchdown, and an 18-yarder to Johnson on the Rams’ sideline that kept the Steelers in rhythm.
He becomes a different quarterback in the final quarter of play, especially when games are tight. But as former Steelers’ defensive tackle Chris Hoke stated, he needs to find that consistency and play like that all game long. If he does, look out. The throws Sunday were big-boy ones, as Long stated. Hopefully it helps him grow into a big-boy quarterback quickly.
