Madden Monday on Steelers' defeat in Miami: 'I thought (Kenny) Pickett lost the game'

In the wake of Sunday’s 16-10 defeat in Miami, Mark Madden of 105.9 The X and TribLIVE has one very clear message about the play of Pittsburgh Steelers quarterback Kenny Pickett.

He needs accountability. Not excuses.

“I thought Pickett lost the game,” Madden said during this week’s “Madden Monday” podcast. “I know we are just going to celebrate everything he does. But he lost the game. He throws a ton of picks. He had chances to win on the last two drives of the game and threw two picks in that situation. …. Ben (Roethlisberger) would have won that game at age 40. (Mitch) Trubisky, if he played this week like he did (last week) against Tampa, would have won that game. And Pickett lost it.”

During Sunday’s outing, Pickett threw 44 passes, a week removed from a concussion. He completed 32 of them. But he tossed three interceptions along the way, for an average of 5.8 yards per attempt and a rating of 66.2. One of the interceptions wasn’t his fault, as he was trying to hit Chase Claypool on a pass in the first half. But Claypool either got his feet tangled with Miami’s Justin Bethel or he was interfered with or he just fell down.

Picked off by @Jbet26

: Watch #PITvsMIA on @SNFonNBC pic.twitter.com/O0lefX3yyp

— Miami Dolphins (@MiamiDolphins) October 24, 2022

Regardless, that one is tough to put on the quarterback. The other two, though, appeared to be mistakes that a rookie is going to make as the team was attempting to mount a comeback. Both picks — one by Miami’s Jevon Holland, the other by Noah Igbinoghene — ended potential scoring drives that would’ve given the Steelers a fourth-quarter lead. The first was 10 plays in length. The other was 12.

WINTER IS COMING. @HollywoodVon with the INT!

: Watch #MIAvsPIT on @SNFonNBC pic.twitter.com/w6ly5RhkF6

— Miami Dolphins (@MiamiDolphins) October 24, 2022

.@MiamiDolphins INT TO SEAL THE WIN. #FinsUp

: #PITvsMIA on NBC
: Stream on NFL+ https://t.co/vDQGJ9SfCd pic.twitter.com/81uBSUIz1c

— NFL (@NFL) October 24, 2022

Madden said the Steelers are feeling the results of making an organizational decision that they are going to use 2022 as a year to develop their first-round draft choice QB, perhaps at the cost of winning games.

“And that’s OK,” Madden said. “Because that’s the decision they’ve made. But there’s no tangible metric by which you can look at Kenny Pickett’s performance (in Miami) … so far this season and say he played well.”

To date, Pickett has seven interceptions in four games and a passer rating of 66.7. Meanwhile, he’s throwing for only 192.8 yards per game.

Madden’s issue is that he expects fans and media in Pittsburgh will find ways to shift focus away from Pickett — because he is the perceived golden child from Pitt — and onto all other aspects of the team.

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“When they decided to make Pickett the starter, they made a tangible decision that development is more important than winning. So we can’t be too mad. The problem is the marks still will be (there). And we’ll blame everybody but Pickett,” Madden continued.

That said, there are plenty of other angles to discuss as to why the Steelers lost Sunday. The run game was mediocre once more. The defense dropped at least four — maybe five — potential interceptions. Miami quarterback Tua Tagovailoa wasn’t sacked and was hit just one time. Plus, the offense was guilty of some extremely ill-timed penalties.

Madden and I talk about all those other issues in the podcast, as well as what lies ahead for next Sunday when the Steelers face the unbeaten Philadelphia Eagles before the bye weekend hits. We also kick around Pitt’s loss to Louisville, Clemson’s defeat of Syracuse, the Penguins’ fast start and their Monday night game against the Edmonton Oilers.

Listen: Tim Benz and Mark Madden recap the Steelers-Dolphins game