Steelers 2nd-Year QB Kenny Pickett Poised For A Breakthrough Season That May Anoint Him As The New King Of The AFC North

The Pittsburgh Steelers’ previous quarterback Ben Roethlisberger was the king of the AFC North for two decades. He dominated every team in the division and compiled a 67-22-1 record against the AFC North including a 4-2 record in the playoffs. The Steelers historically have dominated their division since the merger, but Roethlisberger was the best quarterback in the AFC North for most of his tenure in Pittsburgh and he exploited that advantage to run up a .744 divisional winning percentage during his career.

Roethlisberger retired and the division rejoiced at the idea of Pittsburgh facing the 2022 season with Mason Rudolph and Mitchell Trubisky. The Steelers drafted Kenny Pickett, but it did not strike fear in the hearts of the AFC North. He was the best quarterback in what was perceived as a very bad draft class for quarterbacks, and some thought the Steelers drafted him just to exercise the ghosts of Dan Marino. Pickett certainly was not expected to perform at a high enough level to threaten the vastly superior quarterbacks in Baltimore, Cincinnati, and Cleveland.

Pickett did not play when the Steelers shocked the overconfident Cincinnati Bengals in the season opener. Minkah Fitzpatrick turned the game into a personal vendetta and almost single-handedly denied the Bengals the victory by blocking an extra point late in the 23-20 overtime victory. The Steelers played a second division game at the Cleveland Browns on a Thursday night that also saw the rookie anchored to the bench as Trubisky lost a stinker to Jacoby Brissett. The only bright spot was the catch of the year in the NFL by another Steelers rookie George Pickens.

Pickett entered the fray soon after the second division loss and after an uneven start to his inaugural campaign, he rolled into his first division start against the Cincinnati Bengals. The Steelers lost 37-30 but Pickett played his best game as a starter to that point and led the black and gold to a halftime lead of 20-17 before the Steelers sputtered and eventually fell to the high-powered Bengals offense when they could not keep up in the shootout.

Pickett’s second start in the AFC North did not last long as Roquan Smith of the Baltimore Ravens grabbed the rookie’s face mask and drove his head into the turf knocking him out very early in the game. 

The rules in the NFL state that if you start the game, you get the decision and the Steelers lost a frustrating 16-14 game that saw Trubisky repeatedly turn the ball over in the red zone against the Ravens so he fell to 0-2 and all was well in the other AFC North fan bases. The Steelers were finally getting a taste of being doormats and fans in Ohio and Maryland were ecstatic that Pickett fell to 4-5 as a starter.

A funny thing happened in December after the Steelers were counted out, Pickett returned on Christmas Eve and engineered an impressive final drive to beat the Las Vegas Raiders in what was essentially an elimination game for the 2022 playoff chase. The final two games of the season were a return engagement with the Ravens in Baltimore and his first career start against the Cleveland Browns at Acrisure Stadium. It was a daunting test of the progress he had made in meaningful games that held the slimmest of hopes they could sneak into the playoffs.

Steelers' Kenny Pickett Is Not Concerned About Trying To Be Ben Roethlisberger 2.0

Pickett passed the tests with flying colors. On the road in Baltimore, he engineered a second last-minute comeback to beat the Ravens and damage their hopes of winning the division. Pickett was efficient and played turnover-free football during the 16-13 victory. The Steelers’ running game was the star of the show for most of the day but when they needed it at the end of the game, he channeled his inner Roethlisberger and produced a spectacular game-winning drive. The win improved him to 1-2 in the division.

The following week against the hapless Cleveland Browns, Pickett faced Deshaun Watson with a chance to improve the Steelers to 9-8 and potentially lead the team into the playoffs if Pittsburgh got some help from the New York Jets. Pickett and the Steelers got off to a slow start but ended up winning 28-14 pulling away late in the fourth quarter. They didn’t get the help they needed to make the playoffs but they had secured a winning season and Pickett finished 2-2 against the AFC North.

Pittsburgh, in what was supposed to be their worst season since 2003 managed to go 9-8 and 3-3 against the AFC North. Pickett was 2-2 against the division and suddenly the Steelers’ rookie quarterback is not the divisional doormat that fans in AFC North expected.  In fact, after the disastrous offseason that the Baltimore Ravens have embarked on and the radio silence about a Joe Burrow extension, it is not such a daunting gauntlet of divisional foes.

The Steelers proved during the two decades between Hall of Fame quarterbacks they could still win division titles at a respectable rate without a franchise quarterback. Pittsburgh has also proven if they have a franchise-level quarterback that AFC Championship games and Super Bowl victories are not far behind and that the divisional matchups will tilt heavily in their favor.

The Ravens, Browns, and Bengals managed to go .500 against Pickett as a rookie. If the AFC North was the HBO hit series Game of Thrones, the Steelers would be the Stark family. The really bad news is that winter is coming in the AFC North and the white uniforms of the Bengals might scare a lesser franchise but Pickett is ready to be the Steelers’ standard bearer and become the new king of the AFC North.

What do you think, Steeler Nation? Are the Steelers about to resume their dominance of the division? Please comment below, or on my Twitter @thebubbasq.