4 reasons Steelers would have been embarrassed in the NFL playoffs
By Tommy Jaggi
3. Steelers would have been outmatched at the QB position
For the most part, I really like what I saw from Kenny Pickett in the second half of the 2022 season. The rookie quarterback did a much better job taking care of the football and he mounted two game-winning drives on Christmas Eve and New Year’s in back-to-back weeks. However, it takes much more than playing ball-control football to go toe-to-toe with the best in the business.
Had the Steelers entered the tournament, Pittsburgh would have been matched up with Josh Allen and the Buffalo Bills. Allen certainly didn’t have a good post-season this year, but the Bills were still able to put up 34 total points in the Wild Card round.
Though there’s no guarantee they would have done so against the Steelers, it’s hard to believe that a team that averaged 18.1 points per game would be able to overcome the talent gap. Pickett showed a ton of promise as a rookie, but he is handicapped by a dull offensive game plan. Because of this, his numbers have been very pedestrian and he never managed more than 1 passing touchdown in a game all season.
Even if Pickett led this team to a win over the Bills, he would have been tasked with trying to outscore Patrick Mahomes in the Chiefs in the divisional round followed by what would have likely been Joe Burrow in the AFC Championship game. Pickett can improve, but this offense isn’t there yet and he’s not ready to go toe-to-toe with the league’s best quarterbacks.