The fourth-quarter magic employed by Kenny Pickett is undeniable.
Pickett has engineered five fourth-quarter comebacks and six game-winning drives in his first 19 NFL games. More than half of his 11 victories as a professional have been earned in this fashion and the most recent occurrence was in Sunday's win over the Rams. Pickett added to that as he completed 11 of 12 passes for 152 yards and was not sacked as the Steelers scored three touchdowns in the second half.
Having the clutch gene is a fine box to check among quarterbacks in the NFL. The moment has never been too large for Pickett and that is one of the many redeeming qualities Mike Tomlin, Matt Canada, and the Steelers' front office witnessed when Pickett was a next-door neighbor as the quarterback at Pitt.
Thriving in moments in the latter stages of games is one thing, but Pickett and the Steelers would like to see more consistency and success built in the first three quarters and not just within the fourth.
"Nowhere where it needs to be," Pickett said after Wednesday's practice on the South Side. "We want to play a full four quarters but I think it was a positive for us. ... We're moving in the right direction. The most important thing is that we're winning. We're getting guys back healthy. It's great to have Diontae (Johnson), guys up front. (Pat Freiermuth is) going to be out for a bit, so we need guys to step up. That's how it goes, so I definitely think we're moving in the right direction. Just want to get there as fast as we can."
Pickett completed his final nine passes and engineered two touchdown drives in the fourth quarter Sunday. The Steelers scored three touchdowns in their final five drives and sealed the game with his 1-yard push to gain a first down on the Rams 38-yard line just prior to the two-minute warning.
"I think the balance was there," Pickett said of the second half. "I think we were getting efficient runs, we were popping some runs, the backs were hitting the hole really hard. (Najee Harris and Jaylen Warren) did a great job, the line was working well, the receivers were getting open, I was throwing the ball on time. All the things that you need to be a successful offense we had working for us in that fourth quarter. That's the kind of football that we're chasing."
As has become the norm for these Steelers, Pickett and the offense got some help from their friends on the other side of the ball.
The second half started off with T.J. Watt's interception of Matthew Stafford to set the Steelers up at the Rams 7-yard line. Pickett punched in a 1-yard touchdown three plays later. Mason Cole said that was the spark the offense needed and it gave them enough momentum to surge into the second half.
"First play of the second half T.J. picks that ball off and three plays later we score the touchdown. I think that momentum starting the second half was huge for us," Cole said before Wednesday's practice. "Getting seven points out of that interception was big for us, and I feel like we built off of that."
Pickett's late-game magic is legitimate from a feel standpoint, but the numbers are not lying in confirming it.
In the first half of games this season, Pickett has completed 53.2% of his passes for 508 yards, three touchdowns, and three interceptions. This comes with averaging 5.4 yards per attempt and 4.6 air yards per attempt.
"I'm not sure what it is," Pickett said. "It's a guy here or there, a penalty, a sack, a negative run puts you behind the chains and you get out of those plays. You're obviously not going to stay on script when you're behind the chains. That's what we're hunting. Just keeping the positive plays. If we get a three-yard run or a two-yard one, that's OK. We're staying on schedule and just keep moving that way."
Those numbers balloon into the second half.
Pickett has completed 68.9% of his passes for 749 yards, two touchdowns, and one interception in the second half of games this season. The Steelers have made a concerted effort to air it out more in the second half, and that has benefitted Pickett. He is averaging 8.3 yards per attempt and 8.3 air yards per attempt in the second half.
"I think there's some things that you wait for situations to have that perfect call," Pickett said. "You don't want to leave the stadium without calling it, but you also want to put yourselves in the most advantageous look to get it, which we were able to do in that fourth quarter (Sunday). Moving the ball well, getting in the red zone, and being successful down there. It's all about timing with those plays and how we want to call them."
He has been at his best when the game is in the closing minutes. In the fourth quarter this season, Pickett has completed 73% of his passes for 374 yards, one touchdown, and one interception for a 102.8 rating. He has averaged 10.1 yards per attempt and 9.4 air yards per attempt.
"(Pickett's demeanor) doesn't change," Cole said. "He's 'Steady Eddy.' He's a winner, man. In those big moments he performs, he executes, and I think we're seeing that pretty consistently now."
That second-half production is desired for 60 minutes of football and not just the final 30 minutes. Tomlin is appreciative of Pickett's ability to rise up for big moments late in games, but he acknowledged in his press conference Tuesday the offense needs to achieve more fluid starts to games.
"You know, I'm sure it's a lot of things and, you know, we're going to continually work for more fluid and productive starts," Tomlin said Tuesday. "But it's a component of it that's not new, and that's his ability to rise up in moments. We valued that in the draft process. It was one of the things that made him attractive to us. We've talked about it a lot in this setting. I've watched him do it when he was a Pitt Panther.
"And so, I don't know that any of us are surprised by his ability to make the plays that he makes when it really gets thick. I just think some people are built like that. Some people relish the opportunity. Some people really smile in the face of adversity. Some people are competition junkies, and I think he's all of those things. But that's not something that we're just discovering, as I mentioned, it's something that we knew, even prior to him being a Pittsburgh Steeler."
