To say that Pittsburgh Steelers rookie quarterback Kenny Pickett has struggled this season would be an understatement.
The first-round pick entered Sunday night’s game against the Baltimore Ravens having accounted for eight total touchdowns compared to 10 turnovers. He needed to turn it around if Pittsburgh were to go into Baltimore and remain alive in the AFC Playoff race with a win.
It was not looking great for pretty much three quarters and 11 minutes before Pittsburgh took over down 13-9 with four minutes and 16 seconds remaining in the final stanza.
The Steelers took over at their own 20 yard line and had to travel 80 yards down the field against the NFL’s 10th-ranked defense. Pickett did not disappoint.
The rookie completed 5-of-6 passes for 64 yards on that final drive, culminating in an absolutely ridiculous touchdown pass to Najee Harris for the win. When we say ridiculous, we’re not kidding.
Avoiding that pressure was absolutely insane stuff from Kenny Pickett. But the dime to Harris is what showed Pickett might have legend built into his name moving forward.
The Steelers’ playoff hopes were on the line. They needed a big play or two from Pickett on that final drive. He provided five of them to oust the division-rival Ravens and keep Pittsburgh’s playoff hopes alive. Remember, this came one week after Pickett led a late-game comeback in a win over the Las Vegas Raiders on Christmas Eve.
Pickett ended up completing just 15-of-27 passes for 168 yards in the 16-13 win. But no one in Steel City cares about that stat line. All they care about is his epic late-game comeback to keep the Steelers’ playoff hopes alive.
Related: Sportsnaut’s NFL Playoff and Super Bowl predictions