The Pittsburgh Steelers had just two 20-plus yard touchdowns in 2022, their longest touchdown of the year was a 31-yarder from Kenny Pickett to George Pickens in the regular season finale against the Cleveland Browns. Through three games this year, Pickett already has two 70-plus yard touchdown passes.
With his 71-yard touchdown pass to Pickens in Week 2 against the Browns and his 72-yard touchdown to Calvin Austin III against the Las Vegas Raiders on Sunday night, Pickett is the first Steelers quarterback with touchdown passes of at least 70 yards in back-to-back games since Ben Roethlisberger in Weeks 11 and 12 of 2018.
In front of a marquee crowd in Las Vegas, Austin caught a post route against the Raiders wide-open and took it 72 yards to the house. Austin, a fourth-round pick out of Memphis in 2021, displayed his 4.32 blazing speed on the play.
While the Steelers have vowed to run the ball against a porous Raiders front, they have seen more success from the passing game than the running game. The Raiders have keyed in on the run, sending an extra defensive back down into the box to stop them. So, Pittsburgh went over the top against single-high, put the safety in conflict, and he could not catch up to Austin, who stemmed his post route away from him.
Over a year after being drafted, Calvin Austin III finally has his first career touchdown. The Memphis kid shows off that BLAZING speed for a 72-yard TD.
After missing his rookie season with a foot injury, that has to feel incredible. pic.twitter.com/E1mrmqm2ab
— Matt Infield (@Matt_Infield) September 25, 2023
Following a Patrick Peterson interception off an ill-advised pass by Jimmy Garoppolo in the third quarter, Kenny Pickett led the Steelers on a 6-play, 81-yard drive that got capped by a 13-yard touchdown pass to Pat Freiermuth to enhance Pittsburgh’s lead to 23-7. It’s the first time in Pickett’s NFL career that he’s thrown two touchdowns in a game. The last time that a Steelers quarterback tossed two touchdowns in a game was by Roethlisberger in Week 14 of the 2021 season.
After poor outings in the first two games, Pickett at least showed progress in Vegas. He’s far from perfect, but this could serve as a get-right game for him and build his confidence moving forward.