Among starting quarterbacks this season, only three of them have attempted a lower percentage of deep passes than the Pittsburgh Steelers’ Kenny Pickett. Through nine games, he has attempted just 20 passes of 20 or more air yards out of 253 total pass attempts, or just 7.9 percent. Only Jared Goff, Daniel Jones—who is done for the season—and rookie Bryce Young have been less daring.
That’s not by accident. That’s the way head coach Mike Tomlin wants it, or so Gerry Dulac of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette implies in his latest chat session yesterday. While Tomlin told reporters Tuesday that the Steelers are “going to need more” out of Pickett as the season goes on, that more doesn’t seem to include an alteration of the risk-reward balance.
“Pickett is only doing what he is told to do, and that’s not just necessarily coming from Matt Canada”, Dulac wrote. “Mike Tomlin sets the directive, and the coaches follow. Pickett is only doing what they want him doing — play not to lose the game”.
This is consistent with the tone Tomlin set leading up to the season, emphasizing the paramount significance of the turnover margin and protecting the football. His statement about not expecting Pickett to win shootouts with the other AFC North quarterbacks was also telling about the manner in which he wanted Pickett to play.
To that end, he is seemingly doing the job that Tomlin wants him to do. While he has the fifth-lowest touchdown percentage among qualifying quarterbacks this season, he also has among the lowest interception percentages and hasn’t been picked off in five consecutive games. He currently has the NFL’s longest active streak without throwing an interception.
“I don’t think Mike Tomlin wants to take the leash off Pickett, not when he tends to stare down receivers”, Dulac wrote in response to another question. Elsewhere on Canada, he said that “he is only calling the game the way Mike Tomlin wants him to call it”.
Now, does this mean that Tomlin has “taken over” the offense like he purportedly has done on defense? Not really. It is the prerogative of every head coach to set whatever agendas he wants from his units. If he wants the offense to play a low-risk style of football, that’s the type of football the offensive coordinator installs into the game plan and calls on Sundays.
Pickett hasn’t been particularly successful on deep passes, anyway. Of his 20 attempts, he’s only completed six (with two drops) for 222 yards. Two went for long touchdowns, but those deep balls also account for three of his four interceptions on the season.
It’s also telling that so many of his passes are outside the hashmarks. Of his 155 pass attempts short or behind the line of scrimmage, 105 were to the left or right side. Of his 62 intermediate pass attempts, 43 have been away from the middle of the field.
