When it comes to fixing the Pittsburgh Steelers’ offensive issues, there are plenty of things to target. One of the biggest areas for improvement that people are focused on is QB Kenny Pickett. He looked calm, poised, in control, and borderline dominant during the 2023 preseason en route to leading the first-team offense to five touchdowns in five drives. However, since the whistle sounded at the start of the regular season, the offense hasn’t come close to replicating that success and neither has Pickett.
Pickett is only completing 59.7% of his passes while averaging 6.5 yards per attempt, with five touchdowns, and four turnovers. However, what gives fans hope that there is considerable room for improvement is Pickett’s play in do-or-die moments. He’s shown an ability in close games to make the necessary plays to win them. When head coach Mike Tomlin addressed the media at his Tuesday press conference coming out of the bye week, he was asked about Pickett’s success late in close games where he seems to find another gear.
“He doesn’t shrink in those weighty moments,” Tomlin said. “He’s a competitor. Those are some of the things that really attracted him to us in the draft process. We saw it next door at Pitt. I’m not surprised when it reveals itself again. It’s just innate in some people. When things get thick, some people shrink. Some people smile in the face of it, and it brings out the best of them. I’ve always thought it brought out the best in him.”
Pickett has led his team to four fourth-quarter comebacks and one game-winning drive in the fourth quarter in his 18 career NFL games. In three of those games, Pickett has posted a completion percentage of 60% or higher in the comeback or game-winning drive situations, including completing 71.43% of his passes in a comeback against the Indianapolis Colts in Week 11 of 2022.
In fact, when you dive into the Pickett’s numbers with the Steelers trailing with under two minutes to go or under four minutes to go, he posts completion percentages over his career percentage of 62%. Per Pro Football Reference, Pickett completes just a hair under 63% of his passes (62.96%, to be exact) when trailing with under two minutes to go. When trailing with under four minutes to go, the percentage is even higher at 70.59%.
So the numbers, in fact, bear out that Pickett steps it up to an entirely different level in crunch time. That’s an invaluable trait to have. However, what everyone wants to see is Pickett performing at a higher level from the opening kickoff. That would help the offense perform better and should lead to more wins. How to make that happen is a question that seems to plague Tomlin.
“Every day of my life,” Tomlin said with a laugh when asked about if he’s spent time thinking about it.
If Tomlin, offensive coordinator Matt Canada, or even Pickett himself can find the answer of how to tap into that clutch gene before late in games, it could make a big difference for the Steelers and their playoff chances.
