Coming off Sunday’s loss to the Cleveland Browns, Pittsburgh Steelers QB Kenny Pickett is sure to be the talk of the town after a dismal 106-yard, zero TD performance. The passing game was non-existent yet again with Pickett under center. He failed to connect with his weapons on the outside consistently throughout the contest despite having his receiving corps back to full strength with TE Pat Freiermuth back from an injured hamstring that landed him on IR a month ago.
Pickett’s performance against the Browns yesterday was just another one in line with what we’ve seen out of the second-year man the last several games, having failed to surpass the 200-yard mark in four-straight contests while throwing only one passing touchdown pass during that span. As Matthew Marczi wrote earlier on the site, Pickett has entered a territory all by his own when it comes to producing touchdowns at a historically low rate, recording a 1.91% touchdown rate, the worst of 315 quarterbacks since the merger who have thrown more than 500 passes.
If you want to compare Pickett’s ability to score touchdowns to current players, take a look at the graphic below that NFL on CBS’ Twitter page posted, showing that Pickett has less touchdown passes in the two seasons with than Houston Texans QB Davis Mills, Philadelphia Eagles QB Marcus Mariota, and Matt Ryan, who is currently working for CBS Sports.
As noted above, Mills has attempted just one pass this season while serving as the backup to QB C.J. Stroud in Houston. Mariota was released by the Atlanta Falcons after opening the 2022 season as their starter, opting to sign a contract to back up QB Jalen Hurts in Philadelphia. CBS Sports put out another graphic comparing Pickett’s touchdown numbers this season to Indianapolis Colts rookie QB Anthony Richardson. Both have two touchdown passes since Oct. 1, with Richardson suffering a season-ending shoulder injury that landed him on IR in his next game against the Tennessee Titans the following week.
It has not been pretty for Pickett. Anyone watching the games can say that. His inability to get Pittsburgh into the end zone with his arm is concerning, especially for a player Pittsburgh had the conviction to take in the first round of the 2022 NFL Draft to be Ben Roethlisberger’s successor and the team’s hopeful franchise quarterback of the future. Seeing as he hasn’t been able to score more touchdowns than guys who have been relegated to the bench or the broadcast booth in recent seasons, it’s fair to question if Pickett would still have his starting job if not for the investment that Pittsburgh made into him just two seasons ago.
Pickett has done a good job of coming alive at times in critical moments of the game, turning it on in the fourth quarter to lead come-from-behind victories in several games this season as well as during his rookie year. However, Pittsburgh needed to come from behind because the offense was so ineffective for most of the game leading up to those game-winning drives, relying on the defense and running game to hold on and keep the game close until Pickett could get the passing game going.
In a league where teams are throwing for yards and touchdowns at will, the Steelers are bringing a BB gun to a fight with other teams wielding assault rifles. This isn’t meant to be a shot at Pickett but rather a realization of reality. Head coach Mike Tomlin has stated that he doesn’t expect his quarterback to outduel the other quarterbacks in the AFC North, but rather rely on the defense and running game to keep things close and require Pickett to do the minimum to help the Steelers get out of games with the win.
It appears that formula is finally catching up with Pittsburgh as the Steelers need more than the absolute bare minimum from Pickett to keep their playoff hopes alive. Who know if Pickett will be able to turn this historically bad trend around, but for his sake as a starting quarterback in this league, he better…and fast.
