Mark Madden: More than anything, Steelers need to see improvement from Kenny Pickett

The Pittsburgh Steelers are coming off a bye week. New Orleans is coming off a short week. The Steelers are 2-6. The Saints are approximately just as rotten at 3-6.

The host Steelers are nonetheless 1½-point underdogs. There isn’t a lot of faith in the Steelers.

But if the Steelers don’t win this game, which of their remaining games will they win?

You might not want to answer that.

The general malaise duly noted, here’s what I want to see Sunday at Acrisure Stadium:

• Diontae Johnson catch his first touchdown pass of the season. Eight games in, and Johnson has zero TDs. A $36.7 million contract extension doesn’t buy what it used to.

• Najee Harris score a rushing touchdown. Harris has just one so far, the only one by a Steelers running back this season. I’d settle for Jaylen Warren. The Steelers might, too. Harris stinks.

• A touchdown play of more than 8 yards. The Steelers haven’t had one of those this year. They’re the only NFL team without a touchdown play from outside the red zone. Imagine if they got a 9-yard touchdown. It would be more glorious than D-Day.

• I want to see T.J. Watt not get hurt. A sack would be a bonus.

• I want to see Mike Tomlin win a replay challenge. If you’re going to dream, dream big.

But what the Steelers need to see is improvement by Kenny Pickett.

Once Tomlin panicked and accelerated the presumed timetable for Pickett by inserting him for the second half of the Week 4 loss to the New York Jets, the primary focus of the season became (or should have become) developing the rookie quarterback.

Pickett isn’t developing. The only way to make progress is to make progress. Pickett isn’t.

Pickett’s stats are bad. For every play where he displays the “swag” that the citizens cling to, he looks disheveled and sloppy for 10.

You can’t list what Pickett does well. So far, there’s nothing.

Ex-Steeler Chris Hoke put it thusly: “Guys are open, and Kenny’s not seeing them.”

Hoke is correct. The video doesn’t lie.

But blaming the offensive coordinator is a lot easier. Fans don’t wear jerseys emblazoned with Matt Canada’s name and number.

Pickett hasn’t yet played one good game or even come close.

It invokes at least two disturbing possibilities:

• Pickett played five years at Pitt. He’s 24. Maybe he already has hit his ceiling.

• Pickett might be in a situation where he can’t possibly succeed, like Trevor Lawrence at Jacksonville. Maybe the Steelers organization is that bad now.

It can be argued that Pickett is a victim of his situation. But his situation doesn’t figure to get appreciably better next year. Pickett must make the situation better.

Tomlin mangled the quarterback situation.

The Steelers didn’t need to sign Mitch Trubisky and draft a quarterback. Do one or the other.

Trubisky never got a fair shot. Neither did Mason Rudolph. (But fair doesn’t matter.)

Pickett entered that Week 4 game vs. the Jets because Tomlin grandstanded in the attempt to save a season that was shot to heck the minute Watt got hurt. (It’s the same as trading for Minkah Fitzpatrick in 2019 when Ben Roethlisberger’s elbow exploded. The season wasn’t saved.) Pickett wasn’t ready. Still isn’t.

Tomlin put Pickett’s development in the hands of a Dollar Tree offensive coordinator with a crap resume.

If you don’t want to blame Pickett, blame Tomlin. Everything Tomlin has done with Pickett has been for Tomlin’s attempted benefit, not Pickett’s.