Flavell's Five Thoughts: Steelers Rookie Kenny Pickett a Mixed Bag With Flashes
Coming out of the bye week, there was a renewed sense of optimism going into the second half of the season. The Pittsburgh Steelers were entering the much easier side of their schedule and T.J. Watt was scheduled to come back.
Throwing a small wrench into those plans, however, was Minkah Fitzpatrick’s appendicitis suffered late in the week. The Steelers got one of their defensive stars back but lost the other. Fitzpatrick’s replacement made a huge play to help seal the victory for the Steelers.
Demontae Kazee was returning from his own injury that has kept him out since training camp. He came up with a huge interception that led to the Steelers scoring a touchdown in the fourth quarter and officially getting a 20-10 win over the New Orleans Saints.
The running game looked good. Kenny Pickett had some really ugly moments as well as some good moments. And Watt’s return had the Steelers looking like the defense that is the highest-paid in the NFL.
It’s a lot more fun to read and talk about your favorite team when they win so let’s do that.
The First Real Signs of Life for the Run Game
Najee Harris ended up a yard short of his first 100-yard rushing effort of the season. In any phase, Harris still had one of his best games since his days at Alabama in this contest against the Saints.
While he didn’t score, Harris churned out 99-yards over 20 carries and broke off a 36-yard run which is the longest of his career to date.
The offensive line did a good job of opening holes for him and he took the initiative to hit the holes rather than dance in the backfield or run directly into the backside of his blockers.
Jaylen Warren has begun to carve out a role of his own in the backfield. In an effort to keep Harris fresh and utilize the talents of Warren, the Steelers mixed the undrafted rookie in a considerable amount.
Warren had nine carries for 37 yards and also did some damage in the passing game with another 40 yards on three catches, two of which came later in the fourth quarter which helped wind down the clock considerably in the Steelers’ favor.
The Saints ranked 22nd against the run heading into this matchup so they were exploitable. Mix in four starters missing the game due to injury and it became that much more of an issue for them. Regardless, it is good to see that the Steelers were able to make things work with the run game for the first time all season.
Pickett a Mixed Bag Yet Again
At 3-6, the Steelers don’t have much chance to do anything in terms of the playoffs so the rest of this season is less about wins and losses and more about discovering things about players. Chiefly among those players is the first-round quarterback.
Pickett seemed to have more opportunity to throw the ball down the field Sunday. While he wasn’t throwing 20-30 yard passes with consistency, the typical two and three-yard screens weren’t the highlight of the offense.
Watching the game live, it was evident that Pickett wasn’t very efficient throwing the deep ball. He missed his receivers on multiple occasions and didn’t even give them the chance to make a play on the ball.
One of the big-time deep balls Pickett did convert was along the sidelines to Diontae Johnson in the fourth quarter which led to Pickett’s rushing touchdown.
As a rookie quarterback, the tough games are going to come. That is even more true with the circumstances that Pickett is playing under concerning his offensive line.
Where Pickett made a huge impact in Week 10 was with his legs. Pickett has some solid mobility that he put to use in this game to the tune of 51 yards on eight carries and his quarterback sneak at the goal line that resulted in six.
Deep ball accuracy was Pickett’s biggest concern against the Saints. There were even a few plays where he missed the intermediate throws. He’ll have to be better in those areas to have a long-term career in Pittsburgh but he’s got another eight games to work these issues out.
Secondary Played Very Solid in Win
Anytime that you can get Watt on the field, his impact will be felt. While the Steelers didn’t get a ton of pressure, Watt’s presence helped Alex Highsmith pick up two sacks in the victory. The Pittsburgh defense also forced two interceptions. It’s crazy how big of a difference Watt is.
Kazee’s interception came on a ball that deflected off of Jarvis Landry’s helmet despite tight coverage from Levi Wallace. Kazee was coming in looking to help break up the pass only for the ball to pop into his hands and give the Steelers a critical turnover.
Later on in the quarter, Wallace was able to get a pick off his own on a deep contested ball down the sidelines that essentially clinched the game for Pittsburgh.
Ironically, both guys were brought in to help make splash plays on the ball after a dip in those types of splash plays last season. They proved the Steelers right in their assessment and also did so with Fitzpatrick out of the lineup. Next man up is a lot easier when the player filling in is a legitimate veteran presence with talent.
All of this goes without mentioning Arthur Maulet’s pass breakup on Chris Olave early in the game.
The Steelers have been gashed with injuries in the secondary so unproven guys have had to step up. Maulet is a former undrafted free agent that started his career with the Saints but hadn’t really caught on anywhere. This season, he’s carved out a nice role with the Steelers and has held his own for the most part throughout the year.
His play on Olave set a tone for the Steelers defense as the Saints tried to make a splash early on third down but Maulet was able to deny the play at the last second and force the ball back to the Steelers offense.
With their leader of the secondary likely to miss a handful of games, the unit needed to step up and they did just that.
Was Matthew the ‘Wright’ Choice?
Sorry for the lazy pun, but it had to be done.
Chris Boswell has been dealing with a nagging groin injury which is quite possibly the worst thing you could deal with as a kicker. Boswell was placed on injured reserve and will be forced to miss at least four games.
Wright has spent time bouncing between the Steelers and Chiefs this season and was signed off the Chiefs practice squad upon Boswell’s IR placement.
Wright went 2/4 on field goals missing both in ugly fashion. Even one of his kicks was very slightly tipped but had enough to get through and go in.
The Steelers obviously want to win but the kicking game would be a bigger concern if they were in contention. However, leaving points on the field won’t be something they want to do.
There aren’t many elite kickers in the league and that is why teams go through them seemingly quickly. The Steelers possess one in Boswell but he won’t be available for a while.
Nick Sciba also got to kick for the Steelers in a game this season and made all three of his kicks in the loss to the Eagles.
After a performance like that, it wouldn’t be a surprise to see the Steelers bring in some competition, potentially Sciba, in practice this week for Wright.
Another Home Game on the Docket, Can Steelers Build Momentum?
In week one, the Steelers got that crazy victory over the Cincinnati Bengals that kickstarted the season only to see them fade to six losses over their first nine games. But winning against your division rivalry in the opening week as they’re coming off a Super Bowl appearance is important.
Since that point, the Bengals have gone in the opposite direction of the Steelers and sit at 5-4 before coming to Acrisure Stadium following their bye week.
Joe Burrow has been trending up after a slow start to the year. Joe Mixon is coming off of a five-touchdown performance and a week off. It seems like the Steelers momentum could come to a screeching halt.
The Bengals will likely be favored and that’s fair but the Steelers could hold them down after picking off Burrow four times in week one. They clearly played him well and AFC North football is always a fun time.
Maybe for confidence purposes, the Steelers can pull one out against the Bengals, sweep the season series, and get their first set of back-to-back wins all season. That would surely sit well with the Steelers locker room and go a long way in helping the Steelers get back on track.
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