Fans wanted it. And the first time the offense went three and out in their 24-20 loss to the Jets, the fans at Acrisure Stadium didn't hold back their disdain for an offense that has now gone 13 straight games without a first-quarter offensive touchdown.
Then, after six points and a four-point deficit in the first half, Mike Tomlin made the switch fans were chanting for: Kenny Pickett took the reins of the Steelers' offense.
"We just thought we needed a spark," Tomlin explained. "We didn't do much in the first half, not enough offensively, and thought he could provide a spark for us."
In the first half, Mitch Trubisky completed 7 of 13 passes for 84 yards with no touchdowns and an interception. In addition, three of the six points were gifted by the Jets committing a roughing the passer penalty on what would have been the final play of the first. That moved the ball up 15 yards and paved the way for Chris Boswell to nail a 59-yard field goal -- the new record at Acrisure Stadium.
The fans' disdain for the offense's anemic performance was loud at first, but slowly fell to silence. They were defeated. This went beyond the Trubisky vs. Pickett controversy. The fans were watching a team that had no hope of winning because they couldn't score.
But, when Pickett trotted onto the field for the offense's first drive of the second half, the place erupted. Then it was officially announced: "Now in at quarterback, No. 8, Kenny Pickett."
There's no doubt about it -- that's the rowdiest the Steelers fans have been since Heinz Field was renamed Acrisure Stadium.
"It's great. I really appreciate all the support," Pickett said regarding the reaction from the crowd. "But, like I said, I've got to go play a game. Definitely, I didn't want to spend too much time on it. I thought that we picked it up in the second half there and had the ball moving, but the turnovers killed us."
That first turnover didn't take very long. Two plays after converting a fourth and 1 on a quarterback sneak, the rookie aired out his first NFL pass:
Pickett will say stuff like, "That's on me. I've got to get that right quickly." But, we all know that interception wasn't on Pickett. Chase Claypool made the right play on the ball. He just can't have it hit off his hands.
Pickett ended up throwing two more interceptions. His final one hardly comes by any fault as it came on the last gasp Hail Mary to the end zone on the final play of the game. His second one was also tipped by his receiver, but it was an ill-advised throw that should have never seen the field, or perhaps not been thrown at all:
"I didn't put it high enough," Pickett said. "I cannot throw an interception there in that point of the game."
Despite the interceptions, Pickett did something to this offense that goes far beyond the "KEN-NY, KEN-NY" chants.
"I just play with an edge," Pickett said. "That's something that I wanted to bring to the table. I do not like to lose. This is not a good feeling. I don't want it to be a familiar feeling, so I definitely want to get back out there and get a victory, get us back on track."
That "edge" rubbed off on the rest of the team. Claypool acknowledged it when I asked him about it. Diontae Johnson said the energy the crowd brought "made us get it going."
The defense helped out after Pickett's first interception when Minkah Fitzpatrick intercepted Zach Wilson and ran it back to the Jets' 4-yard line. On third and goal at the 1, Pickett ran his second quarterback sneak and breathed new life into the Steelers' offense:
Not only did that put the Steelers up 13-10, Pickett then led the offense down the field on their very next drive, covering 82 yards on 12 plays. Then, Pickett became the first quarterback to rush for two touchdowns in his NFL debut. Only this one was far more athletic than the first:
The emotion Pickett showed after both touchdowns is exactly what the Steelers need. Tomlin's best teams have thrived with a great collection of talent that plays emotional football. Pickett fits that mold. He also brought more to the table than Trubisky did in three and a half games.
This throw to Pat Freiermuth set up the second touchdown of the game. Have we seen anything like this until this point?
What about George Pickens? He had been virtually nonexistent over the first three weeks of the season, save for his internet-breaking one-handed catch. Pickett looked for him and threw him balls he could doing something with. Take this one on the second touchdown drive:
And another one:
Notice that all three of these throws were on third down. Remember, the Steelers went 1 for 9 on third down last week. Prior to Sunday, they had converted only 13 of 39 third downs. Sunday, they were 1 of 6 with Trubisky at quarterback. Pickett helped convert 5 of 6 third downs, including this one with the use of his legs:
Was his NFL debut perfect? No, not by any stretch.
But...
"I thought he did some good things," Tomlin said. "I thought there was some energy there. We scored some touchdowns. But obviously we also turned the ball over."
Nobody should expect Pickett to be perfect. He is, after all, a rookie. And his first exposure to the NFL regular season came while preparing for the week as a backup. That means essentially no practices with the first team.
"That's why I have to be tuned in really mentally," Pickett said, "go through every single read that Mitch was getting in practice, in game, watch the film as if I'm the one playing so I could be prepared if my opportunity did come, which it did today."
The maturity. The throws. The legs. The fire. It's all there. And, outside of the three picks, he didn't throw an incompletion -- all while boasting 9.2 yards per attempt. Trubisky averaged 5.5 YPA prior to Sunday, and was only at 6.5 YPA before Tomlin benched him.
Now, Tomlin didn't go as far as officially naming Pickett as the starting quarterback from here on out.
"I'm not going to talk extended as we sit here," Tomlin said. "We did what we needed to do to put ourselves in position to win this game. We'll do it again. But, I like to just keep it where we are in terms of what transpired here today. We'll deal with next week, next week."
However, Pickett did more than enough to show riding with him the rest of the way is worth the growing pains that come with a rookie quarterback. Will he make mistakes? Absolutely.
But, that "edge" made fans believe once again.
THE ESSENTIALS
• Boxscore
• Live file
• Scoreboard
• Schedule
• Standings
• Statistics
THE INJURIES
The Steelers had a few injuries take place -- all on the defensive side of the ball. I've got a separate piece on that. The players who were healthy but inactive: QB Mason Rudolph, G Kendrick Green, WR Steven Sims, DT Isaiahh Loudermilk, LB Mark Robinson, and LB David Anenih.
CB Ahkello Witherspoon was inactive due to a hamstring injury.
THE SCHEDULE
The Steelers are back on the road for Week 5. They'll travel to Buffalo to face the Bills. Kickoff is scheduled for 1:02 p.m. Tomlin will address the media Tuesday.
THE CONTENT
Visit our team page for everything.
