Steelers Takeaways: The Kenny Pickett Problem, JPJ Needs to Start

PITTSBURGH — I am still not sure what I just watched in Pittsburgh. But the Steelers won against the Browns. So, I took a few hours to parse some things together to make sense of this wild game. What are some takeaways from the game?

Uhh…Kenny Picket???

I have no idea what is going on with Kenny Pickett. But what I do know is that he is not playing good football right now. Sure, he took a step forward. But it is not something to write home about. Pickett struggled in the pocket and bailed on some clean pockets to run into bad sacks or pressure.

Moreover, his accuracy is still all over the place. That is something that you felt like you knew about Pickett coming into this year. Now, I’m not sure what to think.

While he only threw one pick, he should thrown at least one more. The decision-making is not there, and Pickett has regressed on some points. That is a wild thought but something that is a reality right now. Pickett needs to continue to get better. This was another ugly performance, though not as ugly as Week 1’s debacle.

Pittsburgh Steelers offensive coordinator Matt Canada on Sept. 10, 2023. — Ed Thompson / Steelers Now

Oh, Canada

The boo birds rained down from the Acrisure Stadium stands after an abysmal 3rd and one call from Matt Canada. It came due, and Canada was in rare form on Monday. He did nothing to help his young, struggling quarterback. More than that, Canada’s 3rd and one call would be the talk of the town if the Steelers had not won, for good reason.

The play’s premise has Darnell Washington kicking out the read end, allowing Pickett to scramble around him and have open grass. But the linebacker walked down. As a result of that, Allen Robinson II had to dig out that linebacker. But because that linebacker squeezed toward the line and blitzed, the play ended on arrival.

WTF was this on 3rd & 1 game in the balance pic.twitter.com/TbQ9MN5wX0

— Warren Sharp (@SharpFootball) September 19, 2023

Canada’s play calling continues to fall short and has, for now, three seasons. It is questionable that he even came back following last season. But so far this season, Canada is falling short of the equation. Pickett is not helping the box score by missing layups, but make no mistake, Canada is falling short of the mark here, too.

The Steelers defense, including Joey Porter Jr. against the Browns Sept. 19, 2023 – Ed Thompson / Steelers Now

JPJ Needs to Play….A Lot More

I’m unsure what is happening with the Steelers and the resistance to playing Joey Porter Jr. more. But I can think of more than one instance where Porter stepped up to make huge plays in coverage. His first one came in the first quarter, making a fantastic break on the ball on 3rd and 9 to break up a ball for Elijah Moore. The obvious answer is the coverage against Donovan Peoples-Jones to clinch the game. You can question whether that is a hold, but Porter squeezed Peoples-Jones toward the sideline and played with sticky man coverage.

With the play of Patrick Peterson and Levi Wallace, it is hard not to raise some alarm bells here. Wallace lost contain on Jerome Ford’s long run and got picked on several times in coverage. Peterson fared a little better, but he missed a key tackle on 1st and 20 on a dump-off to David Njoku and struggled many other times against guys like Amari Cooper. The cornerback room is a huge question mark, but Porter Jr. has impressed so far. He might be raw, but that’s fine. Let the rookie learn; the potential is showing through.

Steelers WR George Pickens comes out of tunnel against the Browns, Sept. 19, 2023 – Ed Thompson / Steelers Now

Pickens Passes the Test

Before the game, I asked myself what I thought George Pickens would do in this game. I didn’t know. The hype train is moving fast, and I am fully on it. At each step in the road, Pickens looks like an alien in practice and has made some insane plays in games, too. The walking highlight reel can do more than make contested catches, though, it appears. His 71-yard touchdown hit another gear that I’m not sure I knew he had in him. That extra gear powered him all day. Pickens won over the middle of the field in a way I have not seen him do in his career.

In his first game as the Steelers' WR1, this is the route tree for George Pickens.

Gotta be the most diverse route tree he's had to this level of success in the NFL. pic.twitter.com/vWOXa1H7pl

— Nick Farabaugh (@FarabaughFB) September 19, 2023

He could have had more; those ten targets represent a few missed opportunities. On the other hand, many of those targets are just some of Pickett’s throwaways. But Pickens proved on Monday that he could hang with an elite secondary and still produce even without Diontae Johnson across from him. Check that box for him. If Pickens wants to prove he is a top receiver, he started to show just that on Monday.

Let’s Talk Running Backs

Najee Harris and Jaylen Warren is a never-ending debate about Steelers fans and media. I get it; Warren is a spark plug that makes plays. Harris has some athletic deficiencies, but he does have some things going for him. His 4.3 yards per carry is solid, and he put up +15 rushing yards over expectation on those ten carries he received on Monday. But while Harris is tough to bring down one-on-one, he lacks Warren’s dynamic juice.

Warren is a more versatile player. But he eats a lot of the yards he puts up on 3rd and long touches. Still, his aggressive north and south run style is a unique experience. I said it before, but there is a lot of Austin Ekeler in his game. I genuinely love that comparison. It’s becoming clear how much Warren eats into Harris’ workload in the Steelers backfield. That’s fine; Warren is earning it.

He’s starting to prove he might be the better running back, period. But I love the 55-45 split that the Steelers have going on. Matt Canada needs to trust his running backs to do what they are asked rather than trying to get tricky and putting the team behind the sticks.

Riley Balling

Elijah Riley is one of the best stories of this game. When the Steelers lost Minkah Fitzpatrick, Riley, who hadn’t played safety all summer, filled in for Fitzpatrick quickly. he played all around the field. When the time came for someone to make a play, Riley came down like a missile to make the crucial sack against Deshaun Watson on Cleveland’s last drive.

That’s the type of stuff that embodies the next-man-up mentality. I’m not sure where Riley goes from here, but if Fitzpatrick ends up missing time, Riley might be more than acceptable to stick it out in there and continuing making plays.