Nick Sirianni’s Kenny Pickett praise dripping with irony after Steelers exit

What are we to make of the Philadelphia Eagles this season? After getting to the Super Bowl two years, the Eagles collapsed down the stretch last season. It resulted in both of their coordinators of note being ousted, as well as a few changes to the roster. This includes trading for the failed Pittsburgh Steelers starting quarterback Kenny Pickett. He is slated to back up Jalen Hurts in 2024.

During his team debut, Pickett outplayed Tanner McKee to be in the driver's seat to be Hurts' primary backup this fall. Keep in mind that Pickett is a third-year pro out of Pittsburgh going against vanilla defenses. He also quarterbacked a pair of winning teams in Pittsburgh the last two years, albeit in an underwhelming manner. Well, Sirianni sure loved what he saw out of Pickett vs. the Baltimore Ravens.

Pickett was 14-of-22 for 89 yards and a touchdown, but averaged only four yards per pass attempt...

“We were moving the ball nicely when Kenny was in. It was not his fault that there were a couple of penalties that stalled drives that weren’t necessarily him. I thought when Tanner was in, he did a good job getting into some checks, really being in control of the operation. I thought they were both in complete control while they were in, and made some big throws. There are going to be plays that they want back."

The ironic part of all this is these slow, methodical drives are a reason why the Steelers ultimately moved on from him. Pickett struggled mightily throwing the football down the field with any conviction. Very rarely do you see him throw the ball with any vigor beyond 10 yards. Again, it was more of the same for Pickett under center. This was against the softest of coverages imaginable.

All I know is if Sirianni becomes infatuated with Pickett, it may result in both of them losing their jobs.

Nick Sirianni's praise of Kenny Pickett is why he did not stick in Pittsburgh

When everything was coming up aces for Pickett at Pitt, he was playing Whippleball better than you ever played Whiffleball in the backyard growing up. He was slinging the pigskin all over the gridiron, making plays with his feet in space. All the while, Pitt won the ACC and he was a Heisman Trophy finalist. However, that was against weak ACC competition, and not against the best the NFL can offer.

The thing that I keep going back to is we are not seeing an evolved version of Pickett, only one that is playing in a far better offensive situation for himself. He massively upgraded from Matt Canada to Kellen Moore in the offensive coordinator department. Mike Tomlin is the better head coach, but Sirianni favors his side of the ball. Tomlin loves to blow things up, so long as the still Steelers go 9-8...

I am having an incredibly hard time picking a favorite to win the NFC East this year. Some are easier to figure out than others. By default, I kind of feel like I am going with the Eagles, mostly because I don't trust the Dallas Cowboys, the Washington Commanders aren't quite there and the New York Giants could be horrifically bad. Right now, I think Philadelphia holds off Dallas and Washington's trajectory.

In the meantime, let's all go in the yard and see how accurately we can complete balls 10 yards out.