News Now: Pittsburgh Steelers QB Coach Mike Sullivan Has A Misunderstanding With QB Russell Wilson, Says He Is Not Capable Enough For…

Superlatives for the Steelers: Kenny Pickett’s underwhelming play should now be attributed to the QB coach.

This week, we discuss Kenny Pickett’s career trajectory, assigning blame, and unhappiness.

As usual, you’ve all done a fantastic job providing a wide range of perspectives in our Behind The Steel Curtain comment area. In advance of the Week 11 matchup against the Cleveland Browns, these are a few of the greatest (or most fascinating) comments made by the public.

How unhappy these winners must be. Haha! Steel Curtain No. 68

On this, I have a few theories. The first, and most likely true, is that success has spoilt Steelers supporters for life. I definitely belong to this contingent: I’m 32 years old, and in my lifetime, the Steelers have only had four losing seasons (three of which happened before I was old enough to understand how football worked). They have also participated in and won two Super Bowls. That’s an incredible streak of success, and most fans of other clubs would be delighted about it.

It’s akin to a straight-A student talking about how stupid they are because they “only” have a 6-3 record while Steelers supporters lament the situation of a consistently successful team received a 97 on their math exam. The child in the rear with the Deshaun Watson shirt smeared with piss spelled their own name incorrectly.

Another view holds that fandom and fatalism are intimately related, at least in the sense that anticipating and assuming the worst lessens the suffering should the worst come to pass, and that many supporters, bloggers, etc. of different teams participate in similar discourse.

Having said that, the Steelers are special in that, in my opinion, it isn’t necessarily fatalistic to draw the conclusion that their record likely understates their true quality; this can be seen by looking at their metrics, such as their negative-26 point differential, and, well, by actually watching the games. Any resentment that people may have for the way things are going stems from their anticipation of ugliness and victories that defy rationality, which in this instance would be a regression back to the mean, or even worse, another 9–8 season. To be honest, it’s difficult to contest the logic of that perspective.

In this imaginary debate I’m holding with myself, I would respond that fandom is essentially irrational and that it’s okay to just enjoy life. Remember that bad news tends to spread, thus stories criticizing the Steelers will always do better than happier ones praising Kenny Pickett for not turning the ball over. The executives at Vox must find a way to pay their expenses.

“I believe QB coach Mike Sullivan should also start taking some of the heat. For whatever reason, it is clear that Kenny hasn’t moved on, and that is the fault of all three parties—four if you count Tomlin. We assign responsibility to the OC, DC, Oline coach, DBs coach, and others so quickly That., but I never hear us criticizing the QB coach—who is assisting Pickett directly—for anything. I wonder if much of Canada’s current lack of success is due to mistrust that Sullivan is genuinely giving Pickett an advantage in the game. -bmp2108

Are you suggesting that there’s another Mike Sullivan to whom I should vent my resentment and criticism when the neighborhood sports team performs poorly? Happiness.

This is a really fascinating topic that, until I saw this remark, I had never really given any thought to. According to what I understand, individual position coaches are more in charge of the day-to-day details like watching video, planning exercises, honing basics, etc., while coordinators like Matt Canada are responsible for creating and carrying out game plans, plays, etc. It’s reasonable to fault Canada’s schematics for not getting the most out of Pickett given the structure of the attack, but it’s not like Pickett is having tactical difficulties. In fact, Pickett has faced several challenges this season, including technical ones like footwork, pocket presence, and a position coach should be logically assigned to work out timing issues both throughout the week and during games. Thus, it’s true that Sullivan ought to be receiving more criticism.

But pinning blame to the offensive coordinator isn’t a uniquely Pittsburgh thing. The Bills just handed walking papers to Ken Dorsey, an adept play-caller who prior to this season looked to be on the fast track toward a head coaching gig. It isn’t uncommon for bad teams to terminate lame duck coaches in season, but for a presumed Super Bowl contender to fire their offensive coordinator before Week 11 is a huge deal and the sort of thing that only happens when an otherwise good team is desperate to stem their bleeding. Interestingly, the person tasked with replacing Dorsey in Buffalo is Joe Brady, the Bills’ quarterbacks coach.

The difference between a team like the Bills and a team like the Steelers is that the former already has an established franchise quarterback who can navigate a shake-up on the coaching staff because he is the system, whereas the latter is still very much in the process of seeing what it has at the quarterback position and taking things a week at a time. There is value in maintaining some level of consistency in the coaching staff (see, again, the Browns for proof of concept).

The Steelers should probably give Ken Dorsey a call this offseason, though.

“I love how Pickett gets under this writers skin. 🙂 Never seen someone root against a Steelers player so much. You would think he’s Zack Wilson.KP is no Zack Wilson. The results speak for themselves, does he make mistakes, absolutely. They all do. Does he limit them yes.I bet the Jet’s would love to have KP right about now. :)But keep dogging man, just don’t jump on the band wagon when it’s convenient.” — Lifelongsteeler915

We do write about Pickett a lot on this site. He’s a first-round draft pick, hails from the local university, and is succeeding one of the 20 or so best quarterbacks in NFL history, and he’s laboring under the perception that his play will determine whether the Steelers are a fringe wildcard team or a legitimate contender. That’s deeply compelling stuff. The vicious screeds that portray Pickett as an entirely lost cause get tired after a while, sure, but no player is beyond reproach, and offering a critical perspective about Pickett when his play warrants it isn’t unreasonable. That was a bit of a tangent; I just wanted to defend the writer to whom this comment was originally directed.

Anyway, I agree with this commenter that Pickett does seem to have a penchant for limiting mistakes, but I think it’s important to put this in the necessary context: namely, that the Steelers’ offensive system does not lend itself to the kind of higher risk plays that portend higher interception rates. Like, Josh Allen has turned the ball over a million times this year, but is there any universe in which Kenny Pickett is the quarterback than Josh Allen? Limiting turnovers is absolutely a good trait for a quarterback to possess, but if that is their best or most straightforwardly apparent trait, then their overall upside in tangibly impacting games is always going to be limited. Fortunately for Pickett, the Steelers defense is very good, and the backfield had its best performance of the season against Green Bay. If they can rely more heavily on the run game moving forward, limit turnovers, and play good defense, Pickett might not need to impact the game as much as he needs to manage it.

I keep coming back to this, the Steelers are 6-3, and a big part of that is because the version of Kenny Pickett that shows up in the fourth quarter is vastly different than the one who manages the first three frames. I do hope that Pickett can play at his fourth-quarter level more regularly so the bandwagon the commenter speaks of gets nice and full.

“So here’s some context, the Green Bay Packers game was Kenny Pickett’s 21st NFL start. Here is a comparison of the number of games with under 200 passing yards in their first 21 starts:Kenny Pickett – 12Ben Roethlisberger – 13So I guess Big Ben was actually JV and the Steelers should have dumped him after 2005 and drafted another QB.” — Carlos71

I’m interpreting this comment as a glass-half-full perspective about Pickett, which I appreciate, but this is a good example of how cherry-picking statistics can lead to faulty arguments. Passing yards represent an especially deceiving statistic because they aren’t indicative of how well the quarterback who amassed them actually played.

The current NFL passing leader is Washington Commanders quarterback Sam Howell, who is very assuredly not the best quarterback in the NFL. Second-year Ben Roethlisberger didn’t have a ton of passing yards because he didn’t have to, and when he was tasked with making plays, he did. Commenter Beijing_Breakfast responded to this comment with some thoughtful and cogent analysis, so I’d encourage you to check that out.

“Maybe the coaches don’t trust Pickett to throw over the middle of the field more. I wouldn’t blame them if they don’t trust him. He’s inaccurate and has trouble reading defenses, and that’s a recipe for interceptions when trying to throw in the middle of the field.However, they need to realize their recent formula for winning is not sustainable. Limiting turnovers and squeaking out close wins isn’t workable long-term.They need to get a lot more production out of the passing game in order to be competitive with better teams. That means that they need to throw the ball over the middle and down the field more. They need to utilize Freirmuth, Robinson and Washington over the middle on short to intermediate routes more, and take more deep shots to Pickens, Johnson and Austin. Sure, Pickett is going to throw more picks if they loosen up the reigns a bit, but they need to see if he learns from his mistakes and improves as a passer. Opening things up in the passing game is the best way to see if Pickett has any real potential to be a true franchise QB.” — jmn51

This is another thing that confused me throughout the season. Pickett’s passing charts rarely contain much action in the middle of the field. What isn’t immediately clear is how much of that is a tactical peccadillo and how much is born from the coaching staff not trusting Pickett to make those sorts of plays. I’d imagine it’s both things because throws to the middle of the field are higher risk and require the quarterback to render and execute confident decisions in a matter of microseconds, and if the Steelers’ primary objective on offense is to mitigate turnover risk, then short, quick passes toward the sideline or at the line of scrimmage promote the attainment of this goal.

However, I agree with jmn51 that Pickett’s offense could be better served by being freed from the existing schematics and given more freedom to throw and huck. It should result in a more aesthetically pleasing output, at the very least. or not. Man, I have no idea. Steelers record is 6-3. Whatever they’re doing is obviously effective.

“Who killed Kenny?” Accuse Canada! All along, South Park had it right. — The Box’s Hateful Eight