Clutch Kenny Pickett Keeps Proving Steelers Right

The Pittsburgh Steelers playoff hopes come down to Week 18 thanks to their game-winning rookie quarterback.

BALTIMORE -- The Pittsburgh Steelers found themselves a winner at quarterback as Kenny Pickett continues to take every game down to the wire and repeatedly walk away the winner. 

In Week 17, with the playoffs on the line, nothing changed. The Steelers trailed by four points with 4:16 left in the game, and like they did last week, drove the length of the field for a game-winning touchdown. 

"There was no doubt when we got in that huddle that we were going to go down there and win," quarterback Kenny Pickett said after the game. "So it's always good to see ... the eyes in the facemasks. They all looked confident. It's a great feeling as a quarterback." 

That sounds like a confident quarterback until you realize the Steelers were on their own 27-yard line. And until that drive, Pickett completed 10 of 22 passes and the team was yet to find the endzone. 

"He's a baller, and he's gonna come through every single time in the situation," tight end Pat Freiermuth said. 

That's who Pickett was when he was drafted, and it remains who he is today. Head coach Mike Tomlin has said all season that their rookie quarterback has that "winning" intangible in him. And in the last two weeks, that has shown itself. 

"I wouldn't say he plays like a rookie," wide receiver Steven Sims said after the game. "He's definitely a leader when it comes to showing us, 'come on,' you know? Keeping us together. Keeping us in late moments, in late games. Pretty much all the games you'll play in the NFL come down to the last three-and-a-half points. It's good to see that from him."

"That's my quarterback," Diontae Johnson added.

The Steelers' playoff hopes remain alive behind their clutch quarterback. And slowly but surely, they're finding ways to win each week. Exactly how they wanted to - exactly how they saw it happening with Kenny Pickett.

"We're growing up, like Coach T said," Freiermuth said. "We worked on it all camp, we worked on it all week in practice. And it's just like Coach T said, we're growing up. We understand what we needed in those situations."

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