Beware Of Kenny Pickett
October 14th, 2022
Impressed with Steelers rookie.
Sunday’s Bucs-Steelers game is 15 days before Halloween.
The vibe Joe got from Bucs coaches and players the past two days at One Buc Palace is not to get caught in an ugly Halloween trick.
So what might that trick be? Underestimating Steelers rookie quarterback Kenny Pickett.
The Pitt product will make his second NFL start. Todd Bowles’ defenses in Tampa Bay have had good success against rookie quarterbacks, though not perfect. Just ask Daniel Jones (Matt Gay says hi).
It seems the best way to not get tricked, to hear Bucs offensive coordinator Byron Leftwich, is to respect Pickett’s skills. Leftwich was singing Pickett’s praises yesterday, adding a rookie quarterback can beat you just like a veteran.
“That don’t mean you can’t have success,” Leftwich said of starting rookie quarterbacks. “A lot of rookies come in and have a lot of success. And this kid, just from an evaluation standpoint, looks pretty good on tape to me.”
Leftwich, who claimed he evaluated Pickett in college, seems to think he might be the total package.
“I just think he can really play.”
It seems like the best thing Bowles can do is unleash his wild and crazy blitz packages, many of which Pickett likely has never seen outside of film study.
Oh, and make sure Ryan Succop makes his kicks. And for crying out loud, DO NOT take a delay of game penalty on purpose to set up Succop.
October 14th, 2022 at 9:10 am
Coach Bowles in his presser yesterday just killing it when reporters want to talk about what color he and Tomlin are. The reporters got smoked.
We coach ball, we don’t look at color.
and
The minute you guys stop making it about (color), everybody else will (stop) as well.
October 14th, 2022 at 9:11 am
Pickett thew for over 327 yards because the Steelers were so far behind….but he didn’t score & thew one pick was sacked 3 times.with a QBR of 57 He hit 10 different receivers…..so, he will probably try to have some balance with running…..
I wouldn’t take him lightly…..but we should take a good lead and force him to throw…..I like our secondary…..Dean, Davis, AWJ, Edwards & Neal should be the starters…..
I’m liking Shaq to feast…….
October 14th, 2022 at 9:12 am
I saw that response also, geno, and I thought it was on-point. We coach ball.
Great answer.
October 14th, 2022 at 9:13 am
QBR of 57 is fine. Now if that was passer rating, that would be horrible.
October 14th, 2022 at 9:15 am
I hope we take this QB seriously, we have a knack of making back up QB’s look like HOF’ers. FYI, “You like that?!” still gives me nightmares
October 14th, 2022 at 9:28 am
The pre-snap front alignments are going to be outrageous and I’d bet money Winfield is sent on a blitz more than once behind that 3-man rush we had some success with against ATL. It’ll be interesting to see how we attack Pittsburghs’ offense, we should be respecting their talent at WR all while trying to violate Pickett and their OL. I’ll just say, if we can come out fast on offense, put two scores up we’ll really put the Steelers in a hole Pickett will struggle to get them out of. This game will be decided by how well and fast we can start on both sides of the ball.
October 14th, 2022 at 9:28 am
I agree geno, Coach Bowles responses were awesome!
October 14th, 2022 at 9:50 am
It’s about time a coach spoke up and said shut the “F” up, the media trying to stir up shat is the problem, in the NFL as well as the country. Oneilsuckyall sees things differently. “I hate the White man! Say it with me, I hate the White man!”
#bowlesgreatcmbck
October 14th, 2022 at 9:50 am
Backup/never were QBs have had much success vs The Bucs…particularly during the lost decade. Austin Davis, “Just in” Case Keenum, Paxton Lynch to name a few. I’d say I prefer Trubisky but he had the best game of his career by far vs The Bucs. Having said all of that…I expect a steady dose of Harris with short, play action passes mixed in. The Steelers are a wounded animal…hope they aren’t taken lightly.
October 14th, 2022 at 10:15 am
CAN WE PLEASE PLAY WITH FIRE AND PASSION FOR ONCE!!??
Because you know the Steelers are gonna be super fired up and ready rip us to shreds if we play another soft, slow-to-start, lackluster game. They DO no want to lose another game, especially at home. We better bring it!!
October 14th, 2022 at 10:40 am
It’s not about race. It’s about a lion and his pride. That’s all. That’s football. That’s what I have loved for 50 years
October 14th, 2022 at 10:43 am
Cmon D Line show up need 3-5 sacks please. We need a complete game here 60 mins
October 14th, 2022 at 11:11 am
I predict 2 Ints. by the Bucs.
With Pickett’s small sample size, he ain’t scared to sling the football.
October 14th, 2022 at 11:26 am
Mike Mike Mike Mike, is due for a monster game. Love when we start game feeding him the ball.
Assuming our O is in attack mode from the get-go and does not take their foot off the gas. Pickett will be in for a LONG DAY trying to play catch up.
Surprisingly, our D has only given up more than 20 points 1 time in 5 games.
Good Luck Pitt, your gonna need it to score more than 20 points on this team!!!
October 14th, 2022 at 11:36 am
The QBR is the worse stat in football. Only guy who care about it is Rodgers. 1 yard little flip pass to a guy a half yard away for a td is worth the same as a 60 yard dime. A great pass that a receiver bobbled or has go through his hands for a interception cost the QB as much as a terrible bonehead pass interception. It’s a robot stat, meaning if you just look at the final stats and don’t watch with your own eyes, you would believe Geno Smith is a better QB than Tom Brady.
October 14th, 2022 at 11:58 am
Bowles needs to sit on his ego and blitz sparingly. If we blitz the superior coaching on the Steelers staff will have Picket killing us with short passes. Dink and dunk their way to victory. Bowles won’t adapt and that gives the Steelers a way better shot than he should have. Steelers 17 Bucs 12
October 14th, 2022 at 12:19 pm
The Lers are going to run for at least 250 yards so Pickett won’t need t do much. But, yeah. If Mariota can heat up and hurt our defense, I know the Pickett kid can.
October 14th, 2022 at 2:30 pm
Pickett is limited. the bucs defense should dominate. The Steelers are a bad football team in a rebuild. They just don’t want to admit it.
October 14th, 2022 at 3:46 pm
if our Bucs don’t meet the fire and passion the Steelers will bring come Sunday, we will be in trouble. They are mad, desperate and are going to play hard in Pittsburg. This will be a very hard-hitting game. We had better be ready.
October 14th, 2022 at 4:10 pm
A QBR of 57 means you’re above average. Brady’s QBR on the season is 51 right now (although it should be rising up quickly now that his WRs are back).
Against the Bills, a QBR of 57 for a rookie starting his first game is pretty dang impressive. That is terrible news, I had not looked at his QBR, figured based on the score it would be like 13 or something awful. But 57 means he, personally, had a good game and was making good decisions for the most part.
For those that don’t know, QBR is actually a worthwhile stat as it takes into account the game situation – so if its 3rd and 13 and you throw a 2 yard out pass like you’re Derek Carr, you don’t get rewarded. Same thing for INTs, if it’s 2 seconds left in the game and you throw a hail mary that is intercepted, it doesn’t really affect your QBR since you really have no choice and didn’t make a bad decision or a bad throw. At least that’s the way it’s always been explained. Unlike the old QB rating system that everyone knows, that is just dumb and rewards QBs for completion percentage regardless of the situation, and you end up with guys like Mike Glennon who has a 90-rating, while with your eyes, you can see he’s awful.
In any case, a 57, on the road, in his first game against one of the best defenses in football is pretty dang good. The Bucs had better not call this one in on defense.
October 15th, 2022 at 2:27 am
I just hope no one gets complacent against the Steelers—-Its going to be pretty cold up there …