It’s difficult to gauge the tenor of larger populations, but there is at least a vocal section of the Pittsburgh Steelers fan base that already seems to be resigned to the notion that the team is now in quarterback purgatory with Kenny Pickett.
That is, they are already convinced that he is just good enough to retain his starting job but not good enough for them to win much in the playoffs. And maybe that will prove to be true. But 21 games into his career, others are more cautious in their assessment.
“The potential is there. The verdict is still out”, former Steelers WR Hines Ward told DJ Siddiqi for Forbes magazine. “He’s still young, trying to find his way. It’s just hard when you’re following Ben Roethlisberger because the expectations are what Ben’s done. That’s a lot to put on someone. But I’m not going to write him off just yet. I still think he has a lot of potential”.
Roethlisberger, widely expected to be voted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame in his first year of eligibility, won two Super Bowls for the Steelers and took them to three. He retired in the top 10 or better in most major passing statistics, including passing yards, touchdowns, wins, and comebacks.
“At the end of the day that’s all you want, is a winner”, Ward added of the quarterback position. “The only stat that means anything is wins and losses. As a quarterback, things sometimes start off slow, but it’s about the moments, right? When I look at situational football, Kenny has rose to the occasion. When they need to make a play in the fourth quarter and need a comeback drive, I like what I see”.
Although his statistical output leaves much to be desired, Pickett remains 12-8 as the starter of record and has seven game-winning drives already. His four go-ahead touchdown passes with under five minutes to play over the past two seasons is the most of all NFL quarterbacks. He has only lost back-to-back starts once in his career thus far with four winning streaks, including one of three games. And he barely played in one of the games for which he is charged with a loss.
The only statistic that actually counts is indeed wins, but a lot goes into collecting those wins. The better your overall numbers look, the more likely you are to win more frequently. Scoring a lot of points tends to be helpful in the quest to win games.
Up to this point in his career, Pickett has been reliant upon playing with a defense that is capable of keeping the score down and giving him a fighting chance to make plays as time winds down. He has had success under that model.
But the question is whether that can be sustained into the postseason. The Steelers didn’t qualify last year, just barely missing the dance in the final week of the season, so we have yet to find out. What we do know is that it’s been far too long since they last won a playoff game. And fans really need answers about if Pickett can do that.
