Just like the quarterback he is replacing, Kenny Pickett has shown he has a little fourth-quarter magic in him, too. And it is keeping the Steelers hoping and breathing, right to the very end.
For the second game in a row and third time this season, the Steelers rookie quarterback produced a game-winning drive in the fourth quarter, much like Ben Roethlisberger did many times in his 18-year career with the Steelers.
Only Tom Brady (46) and Peyton Manning (43) have more game-winning drives than Roethlisberger (41), and Pickett is following the same path after Sunday's 16-13 victory in Baltimore that has the Steelers (8-8) still alive for a possible playoff spot.
"The kid's growing before our eyes," defensive end Cam Heyward said. "It's really awesome to be 23 years old and a quarterback for the Pittsburgh Steelers. You got to love the way he's leading that offense."
One week after he threw a 14-yard touchdown with 46 seconds remaining to beat the Las Vegas Raiders, Pickett came up with the same pulsating theatrics against the Ravens when he threw the winning 10-yard touchdown to Najee Harris with 56 seconds remaining.
Coupled with his 11-play, 75-yard touchdown drive against the Indianapolis Colts, Pickett now has mounted three fourth-quarter comeback victories in his 11 starts as a rookie.
"I can't say enough about our young quarterback," said coach Mike Tomlin, who has been careful to avoid throwing too much praise at Pickett — until now. "He smiled in the face of it. He's always ready to be that guy in the moments that we need him. And it's just good to see the young guy."
Pickett has been that guy in those now-or-never situations.
In each of the three games in which he has brought the Steelers back to victory, Pickett went from looking like an average rookie trying to find his way to putting on his Superman cape and looking like Roethlisberger.
Before his game-winning drives against the Colts, Raiders and Ravens, Pickett was a combined 44 of 73 for 412 yards with no touchdowns and one interception in those games. His combined passer rating was an ordinary 70.12.
But that all changes when the game is on the line. On his three fourth-quarter drives, Pickett is a combined 17 of 21 for 174 yards with two touchdowns and no interceptions. His passer rating is 132.94.
"I think the confidence that I had in myself is showing up on the field, and I think guys are starting to feel that, which is always good," Pickett said. "Going into the huddle and seeing how confident everyone is, as a quarterback, you know they have a lot of belief in you. So, when that is there, you definitely have a shot."
Pickett's best throw of the night in Baltimore was the 28-yard completion in the middle of the field to wide receiver Steven Sims to the Ravens 22. But the most important throw of the 11-play, 80-yard drive was the 10-yard touchdown to Harris over linebacker Roquan Smith in the end zone.
When Pickett scrambled from the pocket to escape the pressure of defensive end Jason Pierre-Paul, Harris extended his route from the left flat to the end zone.
"I think we always had confidence in him," Harris said of Pickett. "It's really just more about us as a team, just make sure we clicking right. You know, earlier in the season, we didn't really click right. We really came together at the bye week. We were able to come together and make the most of it. So it's not that we didn't believe in him, it's just us executing on our part to score."
Spillane overtakes Bush
Inside linebacker Devin Bush played only five snaps against the Ravens, the fewest in his four-year career and another indication of the team's dissatisfaction with their former No. 1 draft choice.
Part of the reason for Bush's inactivity is the Steelers used a bigger lineup with rookie DeMarvin Leal acting like a roving defensive end/linebacker to stop the Ravens' running game.
Meantime, Robert Spillane has played every snap each of the past three games and led the team in tackles each of those games. Against the Ravens, Spillane had three tackles for zero or negative yards.
"We expect that from Rob," Tomlin said. "Rob's been around. He's been steadily on the rise since he's been here. We believe in the development of guys and being a part of their development."
