Memories, particularly ones made when emotional, are not to be trusted. It’s human nature to place more emphasis on negative feelings and forget positive ones. If you don’t believe me, do a check-in with yourself right as you are about to fall asleep, and see which memories are the most eager to jump right to the front. Horrific, isn’t it? Sorry about that.

It’s also in our nature to believe things the more they are repeated, whether it’s true or not. The narrative on Kenny Pickett since his injury in the Cardinals game has been a constant drumbeat of negativity. He’s not the guy, the Steelers can’t win with him, and it’s a dereliction of duty if a high profile signal caller isn’t brought in this offseason. I started to believe that myself. Blame moves like water, always taking the path of least resistance. The day Matt Canada was removed as offensive coordinator (OC), the drainage ditch was already dug and the storm run-off pointed straight at Pickett.

I fell victim to that constant, everyday messaging. After Mason Rudolph kick-started the offense and made the games fun to watch again, I began to associate all the boring and depressing offensive performances that came before it into one sad lump. Mitch Trubisky’s performance during that disastrous three game stretch became how I thought of Kenny as well. I had no memory of Pickett making plays, but that couldn’t be right, could it? I mean, they were 7-4 going into the Arizona game. All I could remember was the annoying habit Pickett had of the spin move to the right when under pressure. As Steeler fans, I acknowledge there might be over-sensitivity to the spin move. We suffered through the Rashard Mendenhall years of his constant spin move into the line of scrimmage, only to be hit hard squarely in the back, and where the ball would fly off to was anyone’s guess. Mendenhall carried the ball so far away from his body, I thought perhaps a hypnotist was sneaking into his room at night whispering that footballs were poisonous snakes. I even have this fever-dream induced false memory of Rashard fumbling away a Super Bowl come-back against the Packers, but that can’t be true because I would have seen it again, and as far as my TV is concerned, no such game film exists.

I decided there was nothing for it. I was going to have to watch every offensive snap that Kenny played in 2023 to prove to myself that Kenny did more than just spin into trouble on every passing play. Turns out that of his 324 attempts, 13 of those resulted in the spin move to the right. Of his 23 sacks, 8 came on those spin moves, one of which resulted in injury during the Houston game (yes, I even watched that one again). He also had 4 completions, and one breakout run for a big gain. The spin move does giveth, but it taketh far more. That will need to be corrected if Kenny does indeed win the starting job this year.

What surprised me was all the great plays Kenny made. He stepped up into the pocket over and over, and delivered some impressive throws. Even though I knew the outcomes, I would still look at the score and time remaining and wonder how they were going to pull out the win, and every time, it was Kenny stepping up and delivering a crucial pass. Kenny Pickett can, and did, deliver several times when it was needed most, and not every QB can do that in a pressure situation.

I over-judged Kenny as I was watching the games live, and I suspect emotions played a part. I was probably already mad about the defense apparently not knowing it’s perfectly legal to throw completions to tight ends, a bad call by a ref, or some bone head special teams mistake, and then when the offense failed, I was too far in my feelings to see it clearly. We were all in agreement that Matt Canada’s offense was not NFL caliber, and that’s putting it kindly. Watching every snap back-to-back, the difference in the one game and some change that Kenny had without him was obvious and impressive. He was pushing the ball with accurate deep throws, using the middle of the field, and was aggressive in his decisions. Look, I learned to drive on a standard transmission. If it has a clutch and a stick, I can drive it. But, if I took a trip to a country that drives on the wrong side of the road, I would only rent an automatic, because I don’t want people judging my shifting skills while using my dumb hand. Right now, we are judging Kenny off his dumb hand, and he deserves some slack for that. With an actual honest to goodness NFL OC, I would not be surprised if Kenny could deliver far beyond what he has shown. The only concern I truly have after watching the tape is the injuries.

Pittsburgh will need to bring in a veteran QB as Mason is likely to leave, and who could blame him? Russell Wilson is the only option that isn’t crazy expensive or will cost draft capital. If he really would play on the cheap with Denver footing most of the bill, I don’t see how the team could pass that up. Wilson is another case where the tape will tell you something different than the narrative from last year. I don’t think there could be a true competition with Wilson’s pedigree, however.

With some key offensive line improvements and a non-Canada game plan, that could be a special season. But, if the Steelers hold true and Kenny is the starter going into the year, do not despair. He is by all accounts a hard worker and again, had the team at 7-4 with an offense that might as well have been calling the plays into the green dot guy on defense for opposing teams. Kenny Pickett might surprise everyone and “spin” a new offense into something special.