Steelers hope Kenny Pickett’s growth carries into season finale against Browns
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Coach Mike Tomlin said the Pittsburgh Steelers offense, and by extension rookie quarterback Kenny Pickett, grew up during that last-minute touchdown drive against the Las Vegas Raiders on Christmas Eve.
If that’s the case, then Tomlin was hardly surprised when Pickett led the offense to another last-minute touchdown the following week at Baltimore.
By becoming the first rookie quarterback in NFL history to have winning touchdown drives in the final minute of the fourth quarter in consecutive weeks, Pickett’s growth didn’t surpass, say, Andre the Giant in stature.
But it provided Tomlin and Pickett’s teammates with a measure of confidence that the future is bright for the first-round draft pick from Pitt.
Thanks in part to Pickett’s late-game drives, the Steelers head into the season finale against Cleveland with a chance to make the playoffs for the third year in a row.
“I think it’s reasonable to expect a sharp, hardworking, talented guy to get better with each exposure,” Tomlin said, “and particularly to do so rapidly at the initial stages of gaining experience.”
The start against the Browns will be the 12th of the season for Pickett. Although he has thrown more interceptions (nine) than touchdown passes (six), he has greatly limited his mistakes since the Steelers returned from their bye week.
In his seven starts in the second half of the season, Pickett has thrown four touchdown passes against just one interception — a third-quarter pick against Las Vegas that ended a streak of 145 attempts without finding a different colored jersey.
Pickett’s 14-yard touchdown pass to George Pickens with 46 seconds left represented the only time the Steelers found the end zone in the 13-10 victory against Las Vegas. On New Year’s Day, his 10-yard touchdown pass to Najee Harris — again, the only time the Steelers reached the end zone — came with 56 seconds to play and vaulted the Steelers to a 16-13 win.
Pickett, though, doesn’t view either touchdown pass as the defining play of a rookie season that has featured the Steelers winning six of their past eight games.
“I can’t say there was a specific moment,” he said, “but I think just being consistent, that’s what it’s all about, being a professional. Coach Tomlin kind of leads that way by being that same guy every single week during a long season.
“I think that’s kind of where you can see if you’re growing up or not. I want to be that guy that these guys can rely on.”
Mission accomplished, veteran center Mason Cole said.
“Kenny has shown that confidence all year in any situation we’ve been in,” Cole said. “He’s been calm, cool, collected. He’s been confident. There really hasn’t been doubt about the type of player he is, the type of leader he is.
“Coach Tomlin said about growing up against the Raiders. It was the offense. We hadn’t had a game where we needed that big drive at the end of the game and done it.”
As smooth as Pickett’s control of the offense has been in the last minute, the key is to duplicate it in the first 59 minutes. In each of the last two games, the Steelers’ other points came on Chris Boswell field goals.
Finding cohesion in the red zone is a work in progress for Pickett and offensive coordinator Matt Canada.
“We all know we’ve got to score more,” Canada said. “We can’t go down there and not get touchdowns. There is no magic. The windows are tighter, the field, those plays get bigger and we certainly can’t stop ourselves. We’ve seen ourselves do that a couple of times throughout this season.
“More than a couple self-inflicted wounds.”
The formula the Steelers have used in the second half with an emphasis on running the ball — they are averaging the fourth-most carries — has aided Pickett in cutting down on those wounds. Pickett, for his part, has helped the offense excel on third-down conversions, which has resulted in long drives and kept the Steelers defense off the field.
The Steelers will need to dial up that approach one more time against the Browns, who like the previous two teams on the schedule rely on a strong running game that limits the number of possessions at each team’s disposal.
Pickett is ready to do his part.
“I’m growing every week, that’s a positive,” he said. “There are things that I’m learning from, and there are things that are on tape now that I wasn’t doing early in the season. I’m continuing to grow. It’s not going to happen overnight. I like the way I am trending.”