State of the Steelers: Naming who’s most to blame for Week 1 humiliation
The is plenty of blame to go around following the dismantling of the Pittsburgh Steelers on Sunday. Offensively, defensively, players, coaches, and even special teams all have major improvements to make before Week 2 against the Browns. But there is one name that sticks out above the rest when it comes to disappointment: Kenny Pickett […]
The is plenty of blame to go around following the dismantling of the Pittsburgh Steelers on Sunday.
Offensively, defensively, players, coaches, and even special teams all have major improvements to make before Week 2 against the Browns.
But there is one name that sticks out above the rest when it comes to disappointment:
Kenny Pickett
I know that in the NFL, business flows downhill, meaning the success or failure of a team starts with the Owner, GM, and Head Coach on down.
And while Mike Tomlin and surely Matt Canada have their fingerprints all over the shameful loss that occurred in Week 1, the buck stops with Kenny Pickett.
Pickett averaged a measly five yards an attempt, threw two interceptions, and had a 68.4 QBR. But what was worse than the stats was an inability to be precise with his ball location, and even more worrisome, his decision-making:
This is a throw that kids playing QB in Pop Warner are told to avoid. You never throw "down the pipe" in Tampa 2 unless the middle linebacker is severely out-leveraged, something that never happens when that player is 49ers two-time All-Pro Fred Warner.
But that was far from Pickett's only mistake and you don't have to take my word for it, here is what former NFL HC Mike Martz had to say:
"He was trying to throw where he has no business downfield, you know," said Martz. "And two more picks, disastrous. And then he got flustered and he tried to make it up and that's what happens. And he just, the inexperience and the ego of it, you can't do that. You have to play the position and you have to have the discipline at that position. And he lost that early and never really regained it."
Now the reason I place the blame at the feet of Pickett is because we have seen and should expect much better. Forget the fact that he's a first-rounder, experienced for a second-year passer, and has shown flashes of excellence.
All that may be true, and yesterday's loss may be a signal that the preseason is null and void, but his processing was elite for all of August, making me believe or hope Sunday was a fluke, with Martz seeing it similarly:
"But his judgment was really bad in this game and that's not who he is, said Martz. "He's a much better player than what he played today. He went off the reservation, I think, as they say. And I think next week they'll recover and he'll be fine."
We'll find out in just a week's time.
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Featured image via: © Charles LeClaire-USA TODAY Sports
