OT: The Pittsburgher Thread: They Killed Kenny!

[Buddy Bizarre]

Return of the U

 

[Empoleon8771]

It's odd how vociferous the criticism of Pickett is after a game where, despite playing banged up, he got the team scoring on 50% of their drives and got a touchdown on the critical last one. Yeah, he was visibly imperfect, but it's an odd game to get the feeling people are turning against him.

The people shit talking Pickett after this game have been the same people who have been shit talking him all season. Pickett missed on a few throws he should have hit and that means he was terrible. And because Levis made a few nice throws, he was great and way better than Pickett.

Don’t pay attention to the fact that Levis threw 3 interception caliber throws on the final drive, or that Pickett threw should have been 2 TDs. Pickett sucks because he overthrew like 3 passes.

 

[Buddy Bizarre]

I actually thought there were some positives this game.

—Broderick Jones played really well for his first start at RT. The whole line actually looked good

—Both Harris and Warren played well.

—DJ had a really solid game again

—Benton was a monster

—I’m still really encouraged by JPJ. Had some rookie moments but more than held his own vs Hopkins

—I thought this was one of the better called games by Canada

—Pickett struggled but did his thing when it mattered

Well thought out post.
I still think Jones should be playing LT over Moore. Or Semu at Guard

But minor quibbles for me.

People aren't happy with JPJ penalties but you take the good with the bad with talented rookies. Dude is going to be a stud CB for awhile.

Great stuff from Mark and quoted by this dude Justin Otstott on X:

@MarkMaddenX We really wanna give credit to Pickett for that? OK 4th quarter, maybe. But Warren and Harris won that game.

“Happens every time the #Steelers win. Every win is Kenny's credit. Every loss is on everyone BUT Kenny. I'm on an island of very few people these day.”

Thank you for fluffing yourself, Mark

 

[TimmyD]

Why does it feel like we don't deserve any of these wins.

Because the reality is they probably don’t. The way the Steelers are winning is not sustainable and it will eventually bite them. I think where they are at currently they will get into the playoffs, but just like every other year they will get absolutely embarrassed.

 

[Coastal Kev]

He seems to overthrow the balls that should be short and under throws the balls that should be deep. I think with the majority of QB's in the league, that Austin pass is a TD. You have one of the fastest guys in the league AGAINST a LB and you don't let him go get it. He did the same thing to Pickens last week, so I'm not to keen on blaming the injury.

He might deserve the moniker preseason Pickett because he looked like a potential franchise QB in August.

Of course he's hit that pass earlier this season with a perfect throw. Have you ever had injured ribs?? Would the pain cause you to play tight???

 

[JTG]

I wasn't a huge fan of Levis in the draft as a 1st round pick where he was being mocked, but Tennessee got a steal in the 3rd round. His arm is really special.

 

[NewAgeOutlaw]

It's odd how vociferous the criticism of Pickett is after a game where, despite playing banged up, he got the team scoring on 50% of their drives and got a touchdown on the critical last one. Yeah, he was visibly imperfect, but it's an odd game to get the feeling people are turning against him.

What is odd is how Pickens, DJ, Harris, and everybody else on the team gets criticized rightfully every time they make a bad play but Kenny has a game where he misses at least 5 routine throws for an nfl qb and some posters are so unwilling to say he had a mediocore game that they come off like they're the dude's mother or something.

He still has only thrown more than 1 passing td in a game once. Not because the scheme is bad, but because he misses easy reads and throws every single game.

Getting the clutch drive is nice, but even an above average qb would have boat raced the Titans yesterday. The standard is the standard, I guess.

 

[JTG]

Kenny did leave a lot on the field. That should have been a 300 yard game. He sailed one on Pickens and Pickens would have been off to the races. Kenny has to be better.

 

[Coastal Kev]

Kenny did leave a lot on the field. That should have been a 300 yard game. He sailed one on Pickens and Pickens would have been off to the races. Kenny has to be better.

Agreed, bad accuracy night. Again, he had ribs injured on a short week. If his accuracy doesn't improve continues to regress, then yes, the Steelers may need to find another qb.

He missed passes last night that he normally doesn't miss. That was the first game where I saw players busting wide open and his line giving him time.

 

[MrBrightside]

For all the gushing over "clutch" and all that, on the TD drive in the 4th quarter, Pickett was 3-for-5 for 39 yards. The sideline throw to DJ was an absolute dime and one of the best throws I've ever seen him make, but otherwise that series was almost entirely on the ground - this wasn't John Elway in the playoffs or anything.

I'm guilty of this too, but every game Pickett plays is a Rorschach test where people see what they want to see. The bar is so damn low with anything to do with this offense that makes people borderline giddy over scoring 20 points against a mediocre-at-best team at home, but it is what it is.

 

[Empoleon8771]

Kenny did leave a lot on the field. That should have been a 300 yard game. He sailed one on Pickens and Pickens would have been off to the races. Kenny has to be better.

He did miss on a couple throws, but he also had a 63% completion% and should have had 2 TDs if not for Pickens inexplicably not getting his 2nd foot down in the end zone.

I think he had like 3 bad overthrows (I believe one to DJ and 2 to Pickens) and 1 bad underthrow (Austin on the deep play) in the game. They were all bad plays by him, but I have an incredibly tough time saying he sucked because of 4 passes that went incomplete. Especially considering he almost assuredly wasn’t 100% due to the injury from Sunday.

 

[Josey Wales]

DK's Daily Shot of Steelers: Why lunge for logic?

 

[JTG]

He did miss on a couple throws, but he also had a 63% completion% and should have had 2 TDs if not for Pickens inexplicably not getting his 2nd foot down in the end zone.

I think he had like 3 bad overthrows (I believe one to DJ and 2 to Pickens) and 1 bad underthrow (Austin on the deep play) in the game. They were all bad plays by him, but I have an incredibly tough time saying he sucked because of 4 passes that went incomplete. Especially considering he almost assuredly wasn’t 100% due to the injury from Sunday.

I don't think he sucked, but when you're talking about leaving plays out there, he puts air under the Austin throw...he's gone. If the Pickens throw is on target...he's gone. His yards are probably near doubled, and he has 2 more touchdowns and this game isn't close. That is part of the difference right now. He has to reel those in and get them on the money. Those are big, game changing throws he missed. It's not him under throwing a come back route or something. Whatever...they won. He will learn.

 

[TimmyD]

He did miss on a couple throws, but he also had a 63% completion% and should have had 2 TDs if not for Pickens inexplicably not getting his 2nd foot down in the end zone.

I think he had like 3 bad overthrows (I believe one to DJ and 2 to Pickens) and 1 bad underthrow (Austin on the deep play) in the game. They were all bad plays by him, but I have an incredibly tough time saying he sucked because of 4 passes that went incomplete. Especially considering he almost assuredly wasn’t 100% due to the injury from Sunday.

No one is saying he sucks because he missed those throws last night… people are mad because he’s been missing those throws all season. People are also frustrated because if he does hit those that game doesn’t need to come down to Will Levis throwing a desperation interception in the red zone to end the game. It would have been well in hand by that point… and that is why they won’t beat good teams… because good teams will capitalize on his misses

 

[Empoleon8771]

I don't think he sucked, but when you're talking about leaving plays out there, he puts air under the Austin throw...he's gone. If the Pickens throw is on target...he's gone. His yards are probably near doubled, and he has 2 more touchdowns and this game isn't close. That is part of the difference right now. He has to reel those in and get them on the money. Those are big, game changing throws he missed. It's not him under throwing a come back route or something. Whatever...they won. He will learn.

Him hitting those 2 throws would have taken his performance in that game to excellent. They were clear misses but I just don’t think 4 missed passes means he had a bad game.

Half of the team’s drives ended up getting deep into the Titans red zone. Those misses by Pickett prevented the game from being a blowout, but the team still moved the ball extremely well yesterday. I’d absolutely not claim he had a great performance yesterday, but calling it anything below fine is being overly harsh.

 

[bigdaddyk88]

He missed Robinson for a TD. He overshot DJ and GP in the 1st. Last night they should have had 30 points and over 300 yards passing. He missed Austin. 160 and 1 td is a good first half not game

 

[OnMyOwn]

No one is saying he sucks because he missed those throws last night… people are mad because he’s been missing those throws all season. People are also frustrated because if he does hit those that game doesn’t need to come down to Will Levis throwing a desperation interception in the red zone to end the game. It would have been well in hand by that point… and that is why they won’t beat good teams… because good teams will capitalize on his misses

That’s where it is for me. He’s been this way all season. I love the poise he has and the fact we can somehow sustain drives late, but he leaves a lot on the table with his execution.

 

[Peat]

I'm not saying Pickett was actively good. He clearly wasn't. But some people, here and elsewhere but mainly elsewhere, are acting like that was a bum's performance that is proof he should be tossed from the team asap. And it's equally clear to me he wasn't that either.

And yeah, at some point he needs to be better to keep his job. But I'd like to wait for the offence to put up even back to back games where they don't look utterly dysfunctional before expecting him to be better.

 

[xlm34]

Yeah this was kind of a frustrating game from Pickett. I thought his movement in the pocket looked a lot better and obviously the fourth quarter ability is a great thing to have. He just leaves so many plays out there.

Hopefully this game was a sign of things to come with the running game and OL, and hopefully if they start to gel, Pickett can gain some consistency. Green Bay will be a good opportunity for the offense to get some confidence before some big divisional games.

 

[MrBrightside]

The reality is that, even though I don't think this team is any good, it's 5-3 with games against Green Bay, Arizona, Indy, and New England still to go, so they could get to 9 wins without beating anyone else who is any good. Then you only really need to win 1 or 2 of the rest to make the playoffs. Pretty incredible that that's where this team is, but here we are.

 

[Jaded-Fan]

This encapsulates why I am so down on the Steelers despite the record. It is all smoke and mirrors and completely unsustainable.

That it is their designed model and intentional is pathetic and mind blowing.

The reality is that, even though I don't think this team is any good, it's 5-3 with games against Green Bay, Arizona, Indy, and New England still to go, so they could get to 9 wins without beating anyone else who is any good. Then you only really need to win 1 or 2 of the rest to make the playoffs. Pretty incredible that that's where this team is, but here we are.

What exactly does 'winning' this way get you?

A historic margin first round blow out in the playoffs?

 

[JTG]

The reality is that, even though I don't think this team is any good, it's 5-3 with games against Green Bay, Arizona, Indy, and New England still to go, so they could get to 9 wins without beating anyone else who is any good. Then you only really need to win 1 or 2 of the rest to make the playoffs. Pretty incredible that that's where this team is, but here we are.

The whole league honestly sucks. Football in 2023 would not survive the 2000's. It was such better quality.

Him hitting those 2 throws would have taken his performance in that game to excellent. They were clear misses but I just don’t think 4 missed passes means he had a bad game.

Half of the team’s drives ended up getting deep into the Titans red zone. Those misses by Pickett prevented the game from being a blowout, but the team still moved the ball extremely well yesterday. I’d absolutely not claim he had a great performance yesterday, but calling it anything below fine is being overly harsh.

Agreed if he hit those he would have had an excellent game, but we really need one of t hose from him at some point. I am not knocking him...he had a decent game, but we need to see him hitting at least one of those. 160 yards for the game is not great, especially when he left big chunks out there.

 

[Gold Diamond]

I've said this about Tomlin a million times:

He is a charmed coach. Just good enough to go 9-8, or make the playoffs and lose the 1st game.

 

[JTG]

Yeah, Tomlin definitely appears like he's going to squeeze out of this season smelling like a rose. That's just how it goes round these parts. Football purgatory.

 

[DanielPlainview]

Watching Levis throw what should have been three picks on his final drive when his team needed a score to win, is more proof that KP has some rare DNA when it matters.

I forgot KP played through busted ribs, but he needs to start hitting those easy throws.

He makes the hard throws look easy and the easy throws look hard, which is weird AF.

The offense wasn’t bad most of the game, but I guess the bar is so low that it’s hard to tell anymore.

Pickens and DJ are both #2s pretending to be a top dawg, and both could have cost the team with their potential TD bloopers.

Those two are unreliable and KP is a roller coaster, which is why I’ve said over and over they need a good running game, which finally showed up last night.

KP’s fourth Q heroics are as inanely impressive as they are maddening:

Pickens is a superstar talent in a pedestrian offense. He’s in double coverage high and low almost every play and is the reason DJ is wide ass open so much. The few times Pickens is left one on one he gets the ball and usually makes the play. And very often he’s tasked with making a spectacular play few in this league can make.