Mark Madden: Kenny Pickett was brutal, but many Steelers shared in struggles against 49ers

Cam Heyward has tried to shoehorn “Big Ken” as a nickname for Kenny Pickett. Like Big Ben.

Not yet. More like Bubby Pickett.

Pickett is a first-round pick, a quarterback of some promise.

But after Sunday’s home disaster vs. San Francisco, let’s shelve the superlatives for “Big Ken” till he does something of even minimal note: like, say, two touchdown passes in a game. Fourteen career NFL contests have passed without Pickett hitting that modest milestone.

Pickett was brutal Sunday. There’s no nice way to put it. He was seven shades of Shinola. Pickett’s throws were all over the place.

Besides T.J. Watt’s three sacks, two forced fumbles and a fumble recovery, the Steelers were a stink sandwich. Everybody took a bite.

It was a game exemplary of the current Steelers: all hat, no cattle.

Even Patrick Peterson. The veteran cornerback was brought in to be a glue guy. Instead, he’s just another “blah, blah, blah” guy.

Peterson said 49ers quarterback Brock Purdy had “tells” that would lead to Peterson getting an interception.

Instead, Peterson got roasted all day.

Peterson is 33. He’s old. He should never play outside. He wasn’t supposed to. Rookie Joey Porter Jr. was.

But Porter got seven snaps. Peterson and fellow cornerback Levi Wallace, also burnt to a crisp, played 65 each. Because football is an incredibly complex game that rookies just can’t immediately grasp, we’re led to believe.

One phrase frequently associated with a failing business: “This is how we’ve always done things.”

All a cornerback does is cover receivers. Porter is young, athletic and fast. Peterson isn’t.

Hype ran wild after the Steelers’ preseason. Their first-team offense scored five touchdowns on five possessions.

After five possessions against San Francisco, the Steelers’ offense had 1 yard.

It’s only one game, and it came against an opponent that has Super Bowl aspirations.

But the result shows that the Steelers very clearly don’t. They are not serious people, to quote Logan Roy.

Now, next Monday, the Steelers find themselves playing for their season against a Cleveland team that comes to Acrisure Stadium on the back of upsetting Cincinnati, another team with Super Bowl ambitions.

If the Steelers drop to 0-2, they will likely rally “because a Mike Tomlin team never gives up,” just like last year. But they won’t be able to rally enough. Just like last year.

Pat Freiermuth caught a touchdown and did the dab. Down 20-7.

At least 25% of Acrisure Stadium was 49ers fans, tickets bought from Steelers fans. You plan to “take over Vegas” in Week 3, but you surrendered Sunday at home. The most noise made by the citizens was complaining about tailgating restrictions as per an article posted within. God forbid there be limitations on drunk and disorderly.

The Steelers got beaten physically.

The defense gets paid elite money but isn’t elite. Nowhere close.

The Steelers clearly were not ready to play. Ordinarily, that would be the head coach’s fault. But that can’t be said in Pittsburgh. So let’s blame offensive coordinator Matt Canada because nobody likes him in the first place. (By the way, the Steelers doubled down on not being ready in the second half, as witnessed by Christian McCaffrey rambling 65 yards on the Niners’ first possession. So much for halftime adjustments.)

Some of my so-called peers had been predicting 14-3 or 13-4, with Super Bowl possibilities and Pickett getting MVP votes. They’re either incredibly stupid or sucking up to get home-team clicks and listens. Either is despicable.

This column is all over the place. Like Pickett’s throws. That’s because Sunday was so rotten that I don’t know where to begin, or finish, or what to emphasize.

Bottom line: The preseason hype was incredibly misbegotten.

The Steelers are very likely an ordinary football team that will go 9-8, thus preserving Coach T’s all-important mark of never having a losing season. The players just love Coach T.

Some pieces are in place. This could be the year before the year. But in today’s fast-food society, we want to jump right to the finish.

Let’s just agree that Pickett isn’t yet “Big Ken” and proceed from there.