Former Steelers Quarterback Ben Roethlisberger Confident Kenny Pickett Will Bounce Back In Week 2 Against The Browns

The Pittsburgh Steelers and their second-year quarterback Kenny Pickett had large expectations coming into the 2023 NFL season. After ending the 2022 season on a high note and with a lot of momentum, and then parlaying that into a flawless preseason in 2023, many thought the sky was the limit for Pickett and the Steelers. However, after a catastrophic home loss in Week 1 to the San Francisco 49ers where Pickett did not play well, thoughts around the Steelers have changed. 

Former Steelers quarterback and future Hall of Famer, Ben Roethlisberger, who has 18 years of experience as an NFL quarterback, spoke about the kind of "jitters" Pickett was likely facing before the Steelers Week 1 matchup at home and why that might have effected his game on the most recent episode of his podcast, Footbahlin with Ben Roethlisberger.

"Week 1 at home is way different than Week 1 on the road. If you break down the Steelers season last year into two parts, with Kenny, you have the first games where he wasn't really good and the team wasn't good. And then the last part of the season where he was really good and then he parlays that into the preseason which was spectacular. Everybody was super excited from the fans to the media to the coaches and players. And now you have to live up to it." 

Roethlisberger explained that the pressure of a season opener at home as opposed to on the road is a lot different, and being in front of your home fans can add to the pressure since everyone in the building wants to see the team succeed. Additionally, Pickett's perfect play in the preseason and the way he ended the 2022 season definitely added to the pressure as both he and the team as a whole were being predicted to surpass expectations immediately. 

Pickett had a perfect passer rating during the 2023 preseason of 158.3, and was named the best quarterback of the preseason by many NFL media personalities. Additionally, he led the Steelers on a push towards the playoffs to end the 2022 season despite coming up short. In the last weeks of 2022, he had himself two game-winning touchdown passes in must-win games for the Steelers, including one on the road against the Steelers biggest rival, the Baltimore Ravens. 

It took Pickett a while to finally get his footing in the NFL during his rookie season, so the slow start to 2023 is understandable and he should be expected to continually get better as the weeks go by. He threw two interceptions in Week 1, but did have some bright spots as he led the Steelers on a last minute 95-yard touchdown drive to end the first half and keep them in the game. 

Roethlisberger Believes The Steelers And Pickett Will Bounce Back

Roethlisberger's career was full of many highlights, but he also had some bad games which he does acknowledge. He knows a thing or two about what it is like to bounce back from a rough week, and how to move on from a poor performance. He spoke about how confident he is in Pickett's ability to bounce back and put the Steelers in a position to get a win in Week 2. 

"Sometimes you get those games where the best thing to do is put it in the rear-view mirror right now. You got to just move on. Sometimes that's the right thing to do. I feel confident he is going to bounce back and be ready to go." 

Roethlisberger has seen a lot in his time in the NFL, so he knows when a player will be able to bounce back. He spoke about how mentally mature Pickett is, and how he is able to keep his emotions in check despite being so young in his NFL career and how that will play into him being able to recover from rough games. Hopefully Roethlisberger is right, and the Steelers and Pickett have a good outing against the Cleveland Browns in Week 2 on Monday Night Football. 

What do you think of Roethlisberger's comments and his confidence in his successor? Let us know in the comments below!

#SteelerNation