Kenny Pickett starts strong as Steelers open preseason with win at Tampa Bay

TAMPA, Fla. — The only heat Kenny Pickett felt in his preseason debut as Pittsburgh Steelers starting quarterback came from the hot Gulf Coast sun.

Pickett faced little resistance for the lone series he spent on the field at Raymond James Stadium when he led the Steelers on a 10-play drive that produced a touchdown in a 27-17 victory Friday night against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.

The second-year quarterback, taking the field in 94-degree weather that felt like triple digits, directed an 83-yard scoring march that culminated with his 33-yard touchdown pass to wide receiver George Pickens.

The drive couldn’t have been scripted any better. Pickett completed 6 of 7 attempts for 70 yards, and he exited with a 147.9 passer rating.

“I’m not going to look too much into it,” Pickett said. “It’s preseason, and it’s pretty vanilla football, but it’s good to go out there and score and get different guys looks. It was a good drive.”

The Steelers practiced a few times at Saint Vincent College when the temperature soared above 90 degrees, but it was nothing like what they were greeted by upon arriving in Florida.

Pickett was thankful the game was played at night.

“It was hotter in warmups,” he said. “When the sun went down behind the stadium, it was OK.”

Pickett came out throwing, completing short tosses to Diontae Johnson for 8 yards and Pat Freiermuth for 6. Pickett’s first test came on a third-and-10, and he hooked up with Johnson for 11 yards on a curl to move the chains again.

Jaylen Warren, who split the first series with Najee Harris, had a 10-yard run that moved the ball into Tampa Bay territory. Pickett found Johnson for another completion, this one covering 13 yards, for another first down.

Pickett faced pressure once on the drive, and he threw low to Warren on second down for his only incompletion. On third down, he found Pickens across the middle at the 21. The second-year receiver shed a tackler and escaped an ankle tackle at the goal line to finish off the 5-minute, 14-second drive.

“We accomplished what we wanted to do, spread the ball around and gave different guys touches,” Pickett said. “We checked all the boxes, and that’s what we needed.”

Harris was on the field for only a few snaps. He didn’t get a carry and was targeted once on a screen that lost a yard. He re-entered for a play after Warren’s 10-yard gain, then exited for good.

The entire starting 11 exited after that touchdown.

Johnson finished with three catches for 32 yards.

“You saw how we came out applying pressure first,” Johnson said. “That’s what we talked about, starting fast. We did that.”

Pickens’ touchdown gave the second-year receiver a chance to show he’s not just a sideline deep threat.

“Just to show people that I can do that,” he said. “It’s one of the plays where I get to show my abilities with the run after the catch.”

Among the backups, second-year receiver Calvin Austin grabbed the spotlight in his NFL preseason debut. Austin, who missed the entire 2022 season with a foot injury, led the Steelers in rushing and receiving.

He had two carries on jet sweeps for 23 yards and had a 67-yard touchdown catch among his two receptions for 73 yards.

Anthony McFarland added a 14-yard touchdown run on a sweep to give the Steelers a 14-7 lead.

Rookie fourth-rounder Nick Herbig impressed at outside linebacker by getting one sack and sharing another with DeMarvin Leal.

After starting last season at quarterback, Mitch Trubisky entered as the backup and played three series. Trubisky wasn’t nearly as efficient, completing just 1 of 4 attempts for 10 yards. He threw an interception when he looked deep for Cody White to open his second series, and cornerback Zyon McCollum got to the ball first.

Trubisky did turn a 14-7 lead over to No. 3 quarterback Mason Rudolph. The Steelers broke the 7-7 tie when McFarland scooted around the right side untouched for a 14-yard touchdown with 8:18 left in the half.

Showing that the jet sweep remains a part of offensive coordinator Matt Canada’s arsenal, Austin took a pair of handoffs around the left end, gaining 17 yards on one and 6 on another. Trubisky’s 10-yard completion to Connor Heyward set up McFarland’s TD jaunt, which featured a nice block from Gunner Olszewski that set the edge.

Rudolph led a field-goal drive to close the first half. The Steelers got the ball at their 32 with 1:10 left. Rudolph moved the offense 56 yards in eight plays, completing a 14-yard pass to Olszewski and a 24-yarder to Heyward. Rudolph also scrambled 15 yards for a first down, and he exhausted the final timeout with 20 seconds left in the half. Following a 7-yard completion to White, Rudolph spiked the ball with 20 seconds left, and B.T. Potter kicked a 30-yard field goal to push the lead to 17-7.

Potter added a 43-yard field goal on the opening drive of the second half.

Austin punctuated his Steelers debut by getting behind the Tampa Bay secondary on his 67-yard grab from Rudolph with 8:28 left in the third.

Rudolph completed 7 of 12 for 132 yards and left after his touchdown pass to Austin.

Fourth-string quarterback Tanner Morgan played the rest of the game.