The Pittsburgh Steelers finally decided to turn over the starting quarterback job to rookie Kenny Pickett.
He made his NFL debut in Week 4 when he entered the game in the second half.
The New York Jets led 10-6 when Pickett entered and despite a tough day through the air he let his legs lead the way.
Despite losing the game 24-20, Pickett scored two rushing touchdowns in the second half.
First QB in NFL history to rush for 2 touchdowns in debut:
Kenny Pickett pic.twitter.com/ofWzq4POK3
— NFL on CBS 🏈 (@NFLonCBS) October 2, 2022
The issues the rookie had were through the air.
He attempted 13 passes in the game and three of them were intercepted.
But, those are the growing pains you go to expect with a rookie QB.
Despite his struggles through the air, he must play over Mitch Trubisky.
Trubisky can not seem to do anything for this Steelers offense.
He threw for 84 yards and an interception in the first half while leading the team to only six points.
Pittsburgh was headed down a path of losses with Trubisky leading the offense.
Now, with Pickett taking over, will he be able to save the Steelers from their 1-3 start?
The rookie is being put into a tough spot knowing the city where he played college football is counting on him to save their NFL team.
But, the fact of the matter is the Steelers do not have a good team.
Their defense was always their strong suit in recent years, but without T.J. Watt they have fallen off.
Their secondary is mediocre and their linebackers are not very good.
Pittsburgh relied on Watt and the pass rush to make things easy on the rest of the defense.
But, without that elite pass rush, they are struggling to stop people.
Even bad offenses like the Browns and Jets are scoring 24+ points on them.
That means the offense will need to pick up the slack by scoring points.
Scoring points is not easy for this offense because their offensive line is terrible.
Pickett will not have much time to throw, and will more than likely have to use his legs a bunch as we saw in Week 4.
Optimism On Offense
If you are looking for a positive about this Steelers offensive it is their weapons.
Wide receivers Diontae Johnson and George Pickens have been productive, while Pat Freiermuth can be a security blanket for the rookie QB.
Kenny Pickett to George Pickens 🎯
That sounds nice to say, doesn’t it? pic.twitter.com/zJHNYmhnjR
— PFF PIT Steelers (@PFF_Steelers) October 2, 2022
Running back Najee Harris will be the x-factor for the Steelers the rest of the season.
Can he give them anything on the ground behind a bad offensive line?
So far this year he is averaging only 3.5 yards per carry and has yet to record more than 75 yards in a game.
The skilled players are in place for Pickett to have success if he can get them the ball.
But, the rookie is being thrown into the fire in Week 5 against one of the best teams in football.
The Steelers travel to the Buffalo Bills on Sunday and are the biggest underdog of Week 5.
It will be very interesting to see how the rookie responds in his first career start.
He is playing with house money in some sense because no one is picking Pittsburgh to win.
The most important thing for the Steelers is for Pickett to build confidence and get better each week.
More likely than not this team will not be in the playoffs this year, but they still have so much to gain from Pickett playing well early in his career.
It is time to see what the first QB drafted in the 2022 NFL draft is made of.
NEXT: Kenny Pickett Set Unique NFL History In His Debut