The Pittsburgh Steelers fell 13-10 to the Cleveland Browns on the road. It was a similar script to most of their games this season, except they couldn’t close it out in the fourth quarter. Kenny Pickett finished the day with his lowest yardage total in a game he started and finished. He attempted 28 passes, completing 15 for 106 yards. He also took three sacks for minus-29 yards.
Including the sacks, the passing game contributed 77 yards today, which is obviously not good enough. Up against the stingiest defense in the league, some struggles were expected, but this was a new low for the Steelers’ passing attack.
Head coach Mike Tomlin was asked in the postgame press conference on the Steelers’ website if Pickett is lacking confidence right now.
“No,” Tomlin replied bluntly. “I think the Cleveland Browns had a lot to do with that. I’d be disingenuous if I didn’t compliment them on their players, their schematics, how they played today.”
There is no doubt that the Browns’ defense played a big role in Pickett’s struggles, getting a sack on the opening offensive play for the Steelers. That play really set the tone for the rest of the game.
Pickett had the ball with under two minutes remaining with the score tied at 10. This is the time in most games where he normally comes alive and puts together just enough to win the game. This time, he did not. With 1:42 remaining, Pickett attempted three straight passes to Diontae Johnson and all three fell incomplete. The Steelers only killed 14 seconds of the clock, which opened the door for a Browns game-winning drive.
Pickett was also asked in the postgame presser about his level of confidence right now.
“Always confident in myself,” he said. “It is the ultimate team game. We gotta come together and figure this thing out.”
The outside noise from the media will be quite loud this week following his performance, so it will be important to rally together as an offense and move past this clearly below-the-line outing against the Browns.
