Running game helps Steelers QB Kenny Pickett find his groove on play-action passes

A byproduct of the improved running game the Pittsburgh Steelers displayed Sunday night against the Las Vegas Raiders was the ability for quarterback Kenny Pickett to use more play-action passes.

Offensive coordinator Matt Canada dialed up eight such plays in the 23-18 victory at Allegiant Stadium, none more important than the 13-yard touchdown pass Pickett threw to tight end Pat Freiermuth in the third quarter to open a 16-point lead.

And it was attributed to the Steelers having their best rushing game of the season, setting season highs with 31 attempts and 105 yards.

“It’s huge for us,” Pickett said Wednesday. “You saw the play-action and the success we had off it is awesome. The running game is huge, our offensive line did a great job, the backs were running hard, and that set up everything in the pass game.”

When using play-action against the Raiders, Pickett completed 6 of 8 attempts, matching the number of passes and completions he had in play-action situations combined through the first two weeks of the season.

Pickett has two touchdowns passing, a 75% completion rate and no interceptions this year while averaging 9.9 yards per attempt when the play-action is used. When it’s not, he is completing passes at a 56.8% rate with two touchdowns, three interceptions and an average of 6.0 yards per attempt.

“We were able to do it because of how we were able to run the ball,” Freiermuth said. “Our identity is running the ball. As much as we can do that, it opens things down the field with the play-action.”

With the Steelers struggling to find that identity running the ball in the first two games of the season, the play-action concept spent much of those two games in storage. For all his success in executing the play-action pass, Pickett ranks just No. 26 in such attempts this season.

“It’s all about the flow of the game and how you’re doing,” Pickett said. “If you’re not running, it’s hard to get the play-action going. The fact we had a run game, we were as efficient as we were. We were able to dial up some of those play-actions, and we had some explosive plays. We got Pat involved more, which was great to see. It makes us more versatile.”

The next test comes Sunday at Houston when the Steelers face the 1-2 Texans, who run a defensive scheme like what the San Francisco 49ers brought to Acrisure Stadium for the season opener. DeMeco Ryans is in his first season coaching the Texans after spending two years as the 49ers defensive coordinator.

Ryans is expected to copy a scheme that contributed to the Steelers going five consecutive series to start the game against the 49ers without generating a first down.

“You see a lot of similarities,” Pickett said. “San Francisco kept a lot of the same things (Ryan used to do). He did an unbelievable job. It’s going to be a tough task for us to do some things.”

In addition to dialing up more play-action passes against Las Vegas, the Steelers also found more success with Pickett throwing to the middle of the field. The biggest play, of course, was the 72-yard touchdown pass on the deep throw to Calvin Austin. But Pickett made other big throws across the middle, and he made sure to throw to Freiermuth more frequently.

A week after Freiermuth had just one target against Cleveland, he had four passes thrown in his direction, catching three for 41 yards, including his touchdown catch that proved to be the deciding points.

“We felt like the middle of the field was a key to having a productive day on offense,” Freiermuth said. “We were able to attack that, for sure.”

All because the Steelers found some balance on offense with a running game, which was reminiscent of the second half of last season. On the play before Freiermuth’s touchdown catch, Najee Harris broke free for a game-high 17-yard run.

“The play-action helps a lot,” Harris said. “When you get the linebackers to step up, it creates big shots down the field. When they start playing off (the ball), you can run it more. It all marries off each other.”