It hasn’t been the best start to the season for Kenny Pickett and the Pittsburgh Steelers offense, but the deep ball still works.
Pickett, after back-to-back three and outs to start Sunday night’s game against the Las Vegas Raiders, stood in the pocket, stepped up into his throw and dropped a perfect ball into Calvin Austin’s waiting arms for a 72-yard catch and run touchdown.
It’s the second straight week Pickett has thrown a passing touchdown of at least 70 yards.
Through the first quarter against the Raiders, Pickett completed 3-of-7 pass attempts for 91 yards and a touchdown. And he’s completed 49-of-83 pass attempts (59%) for 545 yards with three touchdowns and three interceptions on the season.
Pickett completed 245-of-389 pass attempts (63%) for 2,404 yards with seven touchdowns and nine interceptions (adding 237 rushing yards and three more touchdowns on the ground) as a rookie last season.
After a strong preseason, there was an expectation that the Steelers offense would take a step this season, but it’s been tough sledding against a couple of strong defenses to begin the season.
A couple of long touchdown tosses, one to Austin and one to George Pickens, could be what Pickett needs to settle into more of a rhythm this season.
