Having lost the lead in Monday night’s matchup with Indianapolis, Kenny Pickett and the Pittsburgh Steelers offense took the field with time winding down in the third frame.
What came next was a 75-yard march in which the rookie signal-caller completed passes to four different receivers and helped the team reclaim the advantage.
“I mean, we had the two three-and-outs, things weren’t going our way, we weren’t executing at a high level,” Pickett said Wednesday. “Then in a big-time moment in that game, we came together and put together probably one of the best drives of the season that we’ve had converting on third downs, moving the ball really well, and then finishing in the redzone — and then you had a two-point conversion on that.”
It was a welcome sign for Steelers fans. More so than the road win, positive flashes from Pickett provide a deal of optimism going forward. He appears to be finding his groove in operating the offense, a process helped by experience.
“I’m getting more comfortable in the system,” Pickett said. “If you’re in a system over a long period of time, you just feel like you’re in a lot more control than when you’re really learning it and you’re learning formations and structure and route combinations that are new to you. Once you get to do that a couple times and you get the rhythm of the game, rhythm of the system, you obviously feel a lot more comfortable that you can go be yourself and play.”
Ideally, he’d like his refinement to mean an all-inclusive attack.
“Using every guy at my disposal throughout progressions and every guy knowing they can get the football any given play,” Pickett said. “I think that’s huge. So, we’re continuing to build that, and I’m going to continue to grow in the system. And then once you get a master of it, you use all your options and you’re a lot more deadly.”
He also pointed out that the main challenge isn’t the speed of the game and of opposing defenders as much as it is trying to soak in a new methodology.
“There’s a lot more going on mentally,” he said. “So, that’s why I think it feels a lot faster than it really truly is just on the physical standpoint of it.”