SCB Steelers Quick Hitters: The ‘Painfully Obvious’ Edition

Good Victory Friday to you Steelers fans.

Here’s a stat for you! In the Super Bowl era, the Pittsburgh Steelers are the first team to be 5-3 yet give up more yards to their opponent in all eight games. And you didn’t think you’d learn anything today… Unfortunately what I found to be painfully obvious last night was that one of the two teams has found their ‘quarterback of the future’ while the other is still in flux. I’m sorry to break it to you but what you saw last night in terms of overall talent at the quarterback position wasn’t close. Will Levis was able to and was allowed to make literally all of the throws an NFL QB has to make. There’s no doubt that he has a lot of things to clean up in terms of reads and some overall decision-making but the talent and poise was there. Kenny Pickett meanwhile is still forced to throw almost everything to the outside. When he doesn’t throw to the sidelines he’s usually rolling in that direction anyway. I believe he was playing with significant pain from his rib injury. The ball sailed high on him a lot last night and that’s usually a sign of not being able to follow through. That said, I came away very impressed with Levis’ arm talent and toughness in the pocket. Anyone suggesting that Pickett can sling it like that is out of their mind. None of what I said above means that one or both can’t be successful or won’t be. It’s just obvious to me right now that one has some significant advantages over the other.

Darnell

If you listen to the SCB Steelers Podcast presented by DEK Roofing Inc at all then you may recall our Ben Anderson suggesting that Darnell Washington might be moved to offensive tackle someday. I’ve tried my hardest to believe that Washington would be just fine as a number two and maybe some day, a number one tight end. I’m starting to find myself agreeing with Ben and that scares me to death to be quite honest. I thought Washington would be much more dynamic and athletic but I’m just not seeing it. Since Pat Freiermuth went down, Washington has given way to Connor Heyward and Rodney Williams way more than I ever could have imagined.

We’ve Got to Talk About George

The best catch George Pickens made all night didn’t even come on the playing surface last evening. It came on a ball that was tossed into the Steelers’ sideline. That’s pretty damn sad considering that he’s probably the best athlete on the field. Should he have come down with that touchdown? Based on the catches we’ve seen him make before, the answer to that is “yes.” But we can’t blame Pickens for the ball not coming his way. With teams rolling a safety over to essentially double him, Matt Canada hasn’t really found a way to get him the ball. It doesn’t help that when he did have a step on a slant route, the throw wasn’t there. Bottom line is that his talent is being wasted.

Long Overdue

The fact that Chuks Okorafor was replaced last evening shouldn’t be a huge surprise. He’s an athletic guy but he just doesn’t get much done in the run game. Rather than move Dan Moore over there they gave rookie Broderick Jones the start. He wasn’t perfect by any stretch but I thought he was an immediate upgrade and I see no reason not to continue with him there.

Holcomb

Very sad to see Cole Holcomb go down with what looks like a season-ending injury. That now leaves the Steelers in a tough spot. Kwon Alexander and Elandon Roberts really didn’t come off the field after Holcomb left which means the level of confidence the coaches have in Mark Robinson is quite small. Don’t be surprised if the Steelers try to find someone else to fill that void.