Over the past two years, no matter how bad the offense has looked throughout the game, Pittsburgh Steelers QB Kenny Pickett has had a knack for stepping up late and leading the team to a game-winning drive. He did it twice in the second half of last season, and he did it again in Pittsburgh’s Week Five win over the Baltimore Ravens. On Good Morning Football this morning, Peter Schrager praised Pickett’s ability to come through in the clutch.
“When they needed it most, Kenny Pickett did step up. That’s what I want to talk about,” Schrager said on NFL Network’s Good Morning Football today. “This is what he’s done over the last two years of his career. In these big drives at the end of the games, he’s able to get it done. He did it last year a couple of times, especially against the Raiders the day after Franco Harris passed away, everyone watching. Kenny Pickett has this weird quality, maybe it’s called clutch, I don’t know, but when they finally need the drive, he comes up with the drive.”
The offense couldn’t get much going all day. They had three points until Miles Killebrew’s punt block with 11:12 left in the fourth quarter, and then the Steelers drove down for a field goal. After Joey Porter Jr.’s end-zone interception of Lamar Jackson, the offense got on the field again and Pickett took over. His 41-yard strike to George Pickens with 1:17 left in the game might have been the best throw of his career, a perfectly placed ball down the sidelines that Pickens caught and took a few steps into the end zone to give the Steelers the lead.
Pittsburgh’s offense has struggled. There’s no denying that. Pickett hasn’t been great this season. But when the Steelers needed a winning play, he delivered like he’s done before. It’s one of his defining traits at this point, and it’s a damn good one to have as a quarterback. You have to be clutch to succeed in the NFL, and it’s hard to deny at this point that Pickett is clutch. He’ll win you games when he has the opportunity.
The defense also deserves a ton of credit for keeping the Steelers in the game despite the offense struggling for most of the day. They forced three turnovers, all three of which led to scoring drives by the offense. You also have to give special teams coordinator Danny Smith credit for having the balls to call a punt block scheme that the Steelers have been working on for less than a month.
The Steelers still have flaws. But they’re 3-2, leading the AFC North, and have a quarterback who’s shown he can get it done and win in the clutch. That’s not a bad place to be five weeks into the season.
