Kenny Pickett lost to the Jets but the Steelers are his team now

Kenny Pickett threw three interceptions in and lost to the Jets in his debut. And yet, still a better option than Mitch Trubisky.

Mike Tomlin took his time evaluating Mitchell Trubisky. The longtime Pittsburgh Steelers head coach gave the former No. 2 overall pick, one-time Pro Bowler and one-time Nickelodeon Valuable Player (NVP) 14 quarters to prove he was still a viable starting quarterback.

Trubisky did not do this. He was, in fact, significantly worse than he’d been in the 2020 season that convinced the Chicago Bears it was time to move on. In three games, the young veteran ranked 29th among 33 qualified quarterbacks in expected points added — sandwiched between Matt Ryan and Davis Mills in the ratings.

His 1.9 percent touchdown pass rate — two in 103 attempts — was worst in the NFL. Despite having targets like Diontae Johnson, George Pickens, Chase Claypool and Pat Freiermuth only four teams in the league had fewer passing yards than the Steelers through three games.

This is the kind of performance that makes fans cheer so loudly for a benching that they have to be calmed down by their own team.

Enter the 20th selection of the 2022 NFL Draft, Kenny Pickett.

Pickett completed all 13 of his passes in his professional debut. Unfortunately, three of those were to Jets defenders, including his first and last attempts of the afternoon.

Pickett’s most noticeable contribution came on the ground, where he turned six running plays into two first downs and two touchdowns.

But Pickett could provide a much needed breath of fresh air in the intermediate and deep passing games. Per SIS, Trubisky attempted 48 passes 10-plus yards downfield in his four appearances. He completed only 20 of those attempts — 41.7 percent. Pickett threw seven such passes against the Jets and completed five (71.4 percent). Two were intercepted but one was the last-ditch Hail Mary Lamarcus Joyner hauled down in the end zone.

via RBSDM.com

Pickett’s live arm is a real asset for a team that struggled to push the ball downfield late in the Ben Roethlisberger era and through all four barely watchable ones of Trubisky time. Here, he sees George Pickens is well covered to the inside in a third-and-three situation and has the awareness to put the ball on his rookie teammate’s back shoulder. Pickens makes the catch, then adds a few bonus yards at the end to set Pittsburgh up in scoring position.

Of course, the Steelers’ next two plays were a fumbled handoff and then an extremely avoidable, back-foot interception when Pickett opted to dance backward instead of stepping up in the pocket, so it’s not all rainbows.

This is the hazard of playing a rookie — especially one lightly regarded enough to linger all the way to the 20th selection of this year’s draft. Pickett was passed over for Trubisky the first 3.5 games of 2022 because of his volatility. Tomlin’s reasoning was the veteran’s low-ceiling, high floor presence. But Trubisky spent the first month of the season spelunking and it created an environment where Pickett could throw three interceptions in two quarters and still seem like the better candidate behind center.

That’s where the 1-3 Steelers find themselves. Pittsburgh needed a heroic defensive effort to knock off the Bengals in Week 1, forcing five Joe Burrow turnovers in the process. That’s been, unsurprisingly, tough to replicate. Now Tomlin’s staring down a three-game losing streak despite a fairly unintimidating early stretch of opponents.

That leaves the playoffs as a distant dream for the Steelers, even with *everyone* else in the AFC North stuck at 2-2. Trubisky wasn’t enough to beat those guys. Pickett, at least briefly, was the quarterback of record who turned a 10-6 deficit into a 20-10 lead (and, yes, then a 24-20 loss). He was responsible for what sounded like the loudest cheers at not-Heinz Field Sunday afternoon.

That means this is his team now, bad habits and interception rates be damned. Pickett is in for some devastating lows in 2022. He’s also going to soar to heights Mitch Trubisky can only crane his neck upward to watch.

In Week 4, we saw him hit those notes seconds apart. Mike Tomlin’s job for the rest of the year is to help introduce a little bit more buffer — and a little most consistency — to the rookie’s game as he adjusts to his new offense.

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