Getty Kenny Pickett throws a TD pass.
Kenny Pickett is a rookie. Nothing more, nothing less. He has the next couple of seasons to prove whether he can be talked about among the greats.
But on the New Year’s Day primetime matchup between Pickett’s Steelers and the Baltimore Ravens, he was compared to one of those greats.
NFL fans have a particular affinity for Cris Collinsworth. Many love to hate him and would almost rather watch the game on NBC’s Sunday Night Football on mute. As a color analyst alongside Mike Tirico, he’s often said some controversial things.
The Steelers-Ravens showdown was no different.
On a 3rd-and-8 on what would be Pittsburgh’s final drive, it initially appeared Pickett would be sacked well behind the line of scrimmage. Instead, Pickett escaped the tackle by Ravens’ Jason Pierre-Paul and rolled out to find Najee Harris in the end zone.
It was a thing of beauty, especially for Pittsburgh Steelers fans — escaping the would-be clutches of a defender and zipping the ball to Harris, who motioned out of the backfield and ran up the sideline to snatch the ball from the air.
Just like he did last week, Kenny Pickett once again comes through in the clutch.
And Collinsworth thought it was beautiful, too. “Perfect” is how he described it.
“This is sick,” Collinsworth said about the play. “He is going to be under immediate pressure here. He sends his alternate receiver Najee Harris out, moves a little bit. JPP had him, and then he had to anticipate and lead Najee Harris into that mess. He was covered really well on the play… A perfect throw.”
As replays from various angles continued, so did Collinsworth.
“I’m just telling you, if Patrick Mahomes made this play, we’d be putting it right to the Hall of Fame. That’s a Patrick Mahomes kind of magical moment in the clutch part of the football game that sets quarterbacks apart.”
It was actually the second time Collinsworth had compared Pickett to Mahomes. On Pittsburgh’s opening drive, less than five minutes in, Pickett’s ability to keep a play alive was also something “you see Patrick Mahomes do.”… Or any quarterback worth his salary.
Take a look at how impressive this was by Kenny Pickett:
Patrick Mahomes type throw.
While the play earned Pickett a comparison to the one-time MVP Patrick Mahomes, Steelers head coach Mike Tomlin chose the less refined “Kenny F*****g Pickett.”
And, with that, Pickett became the first rookie in NFL history to have a game-winning touchdown pass in the final minute in back-to-back games.
QB Kenny Pickett is the first rookie in NFL history to have a game-winning TD pass in the final minute in back-to-back games.
In the game-winning 11-play 80-yard drive, Pickett went 5-for-6 on 64 yards. It took 3:20 off the clock and left the Ravens with no timeouts.
It was the rookie’s second game-winning drive in as many weeks, the first coming at Acrisure Stadium versus the Las Vegas Raiders.
That’s pretty impressive stuff for a guy who wasn’t expected to start until 2024 at the earliest and practiced as such during the offseason.
Steelers, Kenny Pickett Since Week 9 Bye
Kenny Pickett’s stats are nothing to write home about. He has thrown for 2,209 yards passing with six touchdowns and nine interceptions. He’s playing better than his stats suggest but has yet to lead the Pittsburgh Steelers offense to a multi-touchdown game.
Since coming off their Week 9 bye, the Steelers find themselves with their record flipped after struggling through the first half of the season at 2-6. There are several reasons why. First, Mike Tomlin’s teams never quit. They’ve found themselves up against it many times in Tomlin’s 16-year career, and they’re no strangers to squeaking into the playoffs.
Next, Pickett is improving by extending drives and taking care of the ball each week. The bulk of his nine picks came before the bye, as he’s only tossed two since. Additionally, the offensive line is playing like a cohesive group. The unit has played some of its best football of the season in Weeks 15, 16 and 17.
Lastly, and it’s a reason Steelers fans aren’t going to like: Five of the teams Pittsburgh has defeated are below .500. The Saints, Indianapolis Colts, Panthers, Atlanta Falcons and Raiders have a combined record of 29-50.
The object of the game is to score more points than your opponent, and that they did, but the schedule was much kinder than in the first half of the season.
The 2022 NFL Playoffs — should they make it — won’t be as easy.