Don’t look now, but the Pittsburgh Steelers are 6-3 after defeating the Green Bay Packers, 23-19, on Sunday. The Steelers built on the success they had on the ground against the Tennessee Titans in the previous game and dominated Green Bay with 36 carries for 205 yards and two touchdowns.
However, there was another important statistical category that was a big part of the Steelers’ win. They won the turnover battle 2-0 as the defense picked off Green Bay QB Jordan Love twice including the final play of the game to preserve the lead. It was another turnover-free game from Steelers QB Kenny Pickett, and he’s been avoiding the costly play longer than anyone in the league now as pointed out by Paul Hembekides on Monday’s episode of the Pat McAfee Show.
“I have an interesting stat from us for you,” The man known affectionately as Hembo said to McAfee. “Who is the quarterback with the longest current active streak of passes without an interception in the NFL right now?”
“Wow, Kenny Pickett,” McAfee replied. “That’s good trivia.”
Pickett last threw an interception in Week Four during the 30-6 loss to the Houston Texans, a streak of 147 passes. The next closest is New York Giants quarterback Tyrod Taylor with 87 passes, and he’s currently on injured reserve with a rib injury sustained against the New York Jets. Stats are courtesy of research done by Steeler Depot’s Ross McCorkle.
The Steelers have a 5-1 record the season when Pickett does not throw an interception, the lone exception being the 20-10 loss to the Jacksonville Jaguars where he was sidelined with a rib injury for the entire second half. When he does throw an interception this season, Pittsburgh is 1-2 with the win coming against the Cleveland Browns in Week Two.
This actually isn’t anything new for Pickett, either. During his rookie season, he had a streak of 146 passes without an interception which was impressive enough. Now he’s passed that in his second season. While some may find it hard to believe, Pickett has been quite good with ball security through his first 21 games. In fact, with his interception-free game Sunday, Pickett’s interception percentage has dropped to 1.6%.
Sunday may have been the fourth time Pickett failed to throw a touchdown through nine games, but Pittsburgh seems to have found its identity once again in a dominant run game. Consistently winning the turnover battle is always going to help a team win football games. So as long as Pickett continues to make good decisions when he throws the ball, Pittsburgh will have a chance to win the game as they have shown all year long.
After all, those stats about when Pickett throws an interception coincide with the Steelers’ record when they win the turnover battle. The only loss this season in which they won the turnover battle was against Jacksonville. If Pickett can make some more improvements as a passer, the team’s chances for success go up even higher.
