The bye week offers a chance for rest but also a chance to reset. To reevaluate. Look at the tape, figure out your strengths and weaknesses, and adjust. That’s true for the team and true for each play. For QBs Coach Mike Sullivan, he’s working on QB Kenny Pickett to be a little less aggressive and take what’s there.
Speaking to reporters earlier in the week, Sullivan said he’s trying to better get Pickett to walk the line between being too competitive to the point where it leads to mistakes.
“He’s very aware of some of the things that can be better,” Sullivan said via Steelers.com. “He’s such a competitive guy and he wants to win and he wants to have the ball in his hand, so to speak. There may be some of those easier completions, those ones that are there and maybe gets a little bit greedy at times. And again, he’d be the first one to admit that it’s not a huge setback or a negative.”
Pickett’s competitiveness has never been in doubt and was one of his most attractive traits that led to him becoming the Steelers’ first-round pick and top quarterback drafted in 2022. He showed his toughness by playing through knee and calf injuries in Sunday’s win over the Baltimore Ravens, leading the Steelers on a game-winning drive. But Sullivan notes there have been times when Pickett has passed up the “easy” throw for something tougher downfield. It’s the old adage of “take a profit,” meaning gain whatever you’re able to instead of risking a larger gain that could have negative outcomes.
After playing clean following last year’s bye, one interception from Week Ten and on, Pickett has thrown four in five games this season. The stats are obvious, and they don’t lie. When Pickett throws an interception, regardless of turnover differential or any other factors, the Steelers are 2-6. When he doesn’t throw a pick, Pittsburgh is 8-2. In fairness, those win outcomes are likely true for many quarterbacks, but it feels like Pickett and the Steelers have less margin for error than other teams.
They lack the high-powered offense to get back into games and can’t give away possessions and potential short fields to the opponent. The Steelers haven’t scored 30 points in a game since Week 11 of last year and haven’t done so in a victory since Week 10 of 2020, the longest streak in football by a considerable margin.
Pickett is coming off a cleaner performance in the win over the Ravens, not throwing a pick or many “bad” balls that could’ve been intercepted. Sullivan will look to keep him on that course in Week Seven against the Los Angeles Rams, who have just three takeaways on the season.
