It does not matter if you are a fan of Kenny Pickett or not. You would be hard-pressed to find many Pittsburgh Steelers fans who aren't impressed with Pickett's performance this summer. The former first-round pick came out with guns blazing in the preseason opener against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. Now he has officially stacked back-to-back awesome performances.
After completing 6 of 7 passes for 70 yards and a touchdown against the Bucs in his first preseason game of 2023, the NFL media wondered if he would be able to repeat such a strong performance against a much more talented Buffalo Bills team. The answer is a resounding 'yes'.
On the opening drive, Pickett completed a big third-down pass. Pittsburgh's first drive was ultimately capped off with a 62-yard rushing touchdown from RB Jaylen Warren. On the following drive, Pickett marched the offense down the field and capped things off with a 25-yard dart for a touchdown over the middle of the field to Pat Freiermuth.
After this remarkably strong performance, Pickett's night was done. Pickett finished the game against the Bills by completing 3 of 4 passes for 43 yards and a touchdown, via ESPN stats. The young quarterback has now managed over 10.0 yards per attempt over his first two preseason games. This has equated to a passer rating of over 147.5 in both performances. He also has thrown 2 passing touchdowns with 0 interceptions in just three offensive positions this preseason. The Steelers have scored touchdowns on all three drives that Pickett led.
After instantaneously jumping to a 14-0 lead, Mike Tomlin had decided that he had seen enough from his franchise quarterback. This wasn't just a strong performance against the Bills; it's one that put Josh Allen to shame.
Kenny Pickett grossly outplays Josh Allen in Steelers vs Bills game
Kenny Pickett was the talk of the Steelers vs Bills game in Week 2 of the preseason -- not Josh Allen. Despite Allen's history of Pro Bowl appearances and impressive statistical production, Pickett was clearly the better of the two passers in this contest.
By the end of the night, Allen had 7 of 10 passes for just 64 yards without a touchdown or an interception. This equated to a passer rating of 87.1. While Allen played longer than Pickett, many wondered if Bills head coach Sean McDermott would force him to stay out on the field even longer after an unspectacular showing against Pittsburgh's defense.
Whether it's preseason or not, anytime you can grossly outperform a star NFL quarterback, you are doing something right. Kenny Pickett was phenomenal for the second straight week in the preseason, and Pittsburgh Steelers fans need to start getting excited. This hype might be real.