The Pittsburgh Steelers will face the Buffalo Bills on Sunday at 1pm ET. It will be Kenny Pickett’s first start in his professional career, and he will be facing a daunting task. The Bills were the popular preseason pick for the Super Bowl in the AFC and the Steelers are 14.5-point underdogs. The defense will be missing Ahkello Witherspoon, and a myriad of other Steelers defenders are questionable at this point for the game.
Kenny Pickett (8) takes huge hit from Quinnen Williams (95) while completing pass to Pat Freiermuth. | Jordan Schofield / SteelerNation (Twitter: @JSKO_PHOTO)
Arthur Moats, who hosts the popular Arthur Moats Experience with Deke podcast joined One Bills Live to discuss the upcoming game and how Pickett might fare against the #1 passing defense in the NFL. Moats started his NFL career as a linebacker with the Bills before moving on to the Steelers.
“I think the Bills pass rush is going to impact him a lot,” Moats said. “It’s going to make him play a lot faster than he might necessarily want to.”
The Bills have a devastating pass rush and have posted 13 sacks in 4 games. The Steelers have led the league in sacks since T.J. Watt entered the NFL and they are in serious jeopardy of relinquishing the title for the first time in half a decade. The Bills secondary has multiple injuries, but are only allowing 150 yards per game to opponents despite the issues.
“Normally, you would give the edge to the quarterback,” Moats continued. “Elite quarterback play or really good quarterback play can always beat good defense. The way this pass rush is playing, I don’t really see a scenario where Kenny is going to be comfortable back there to test that secondary.”
Pittsburgh Steelers quarterback, Kenny Pickett (#8) during a game at Acrisure Stadium against the New York Jets on Oct. 2, 2022 in Pittsburgh, PA. | Jared Wickerham / Pittsburgh Steelers
The Bills only loss on the season was to the Miami Dolphins and they sit at 3-1 heading into the game. The secondary was banged up in that game, but limited Tyreek Hill to 2 catches for 33 yards and the vaunted Dolphins passing game to just 186 yards in total. The Bills then avenged the loss by limiting the Baltimore Ravens red-hot Lamar Jackson to just 144 yards and two interceptions.
“Even though they [Buffalo] are banged up, they are not bad players; Dane Jackson, Damar Hamlin, or the guy out of Florida, Kaiir Elam. They are still talented players. They are just trying to prove they can be consistent starters. It’s not that big of a drop off.”
Dane Jackson and Damar Hamlin were teammates of Pickett on the Pitt Panthers and Steve Tasker, the special team’s legend from the 1990’s Bills teams asked Moats if he thought their familiarity with the rookie quarterback might be an advantage for them on Sunday.
“Absolutely, they have tells, they have keys,” Moats concludes. “You’ll know in certain situations whether a guy will be more aggressive, and they are going to communicate that. The one thing that I always caution people is this; just because you know a person from college, at the NFL level it’s just different. ”
Pickett, who has demonstrated above average situational awareness in his young NFL career so far, could also take advantage if he is aware of his ‘tells.’ He could bait one of his former teammates into anticipating the wrong throw and turn it into a big play. Pickett will also have the advantage of having Mitch Trubisky, who took a lot of reps against the first team defense in Buffalo last season. Trubisky may be able to clue the rookie into some ‘tells’ on the other side.
The Steelers could be missing two of their top three cornerbacks this weekend, depending on how Cam Sutton responds leading up to the game. The contrast of personnel between the two organizations could not be a starker reminder of how important depth is in pursuing a championship. The Bills are starting essentially their bottom half of the cornerback depth chart and they are playing at a league leading level. The Steelers are now 0-3 this season without Watt and the defense has run out of gas without him in the last three contests.
OAKLAND, CA - DECEMBER 29: (l-r) Terry Bradshaw #12, Mean Joe Greene #75, head coach Chuck Noll and Glen Edwards #27 of the Pittsburgh Steelers watch from the sideline during the 1974 AFC Championship game against the Oakland Raiders at Oakland Alameda Coliseum on December 29, 1974 in Oakland, California. The Steelers defeated the Raiders 24-13. (Photo by Michael Zagaris/Getty Images)
The Steelers are the biggest underdog in a game since 1969, Chuck Noll and Joe Greene’s first season in Pittsburgh. It may be too much to expect a rookie to overcome these odds, but how the team performs this weekend will be very telling. By Sunday, they should be sick of hearing they have no chance and if they can rise to the challenge and fight hard to get the Kenny Pickett era off to a fast start. This is a bellwether game for Mike Tomlin’s club. It will set the tone for the remainder of the season. There are no moral victories in Pittsburgh, the standard is the standard.
What do you think, Steeler Nation? Are you fired up for Sunday? Are the Steelers going to shock the world? Please comment below or on my Twitter @thebubbasq.
