Steel City Underground will pick an exceptional play of the game as a highlight each week of the Steelers 2022 regular season. Stay tuned as we hand-select the very best from the Black and Gold!

On Saturday night, the Pittsburgh Steelers visited the Jacksonville Jaguars hoping to continue building off the momentum off of their first preseason game and still evaluate talent and personnel ahead of roster cut-downs. Although the second game didn’t have the same atmosphere, rookie quarterback Kenny Pickett made an even bigger case for why he’s more NFL-ready than many think.

After Mitchell Trubisky finished his outing of the game, and as noted by head coach Mike Tomlin in his pregame presser, Pickett trotted onto the field in the second quarter and went to work.

On Pickett’s second offensive series, he drove the offense 63 yards on five plays that gave the Steelers their first touchdown of the game.

On first-and-ten at the Jaguars 11-yard line, Pickett lined up in the shotgun and threw a nice pass that was hauled in by Diontae Johnson in the end zone. The touchdown was nullified, however, due to an offsides penalty from Jacksonville and subsequent holding call on Pittsburgh.

With the penalties offsetting, the down was replayed.

With just 23 seconds left in the first half, Pickett looked calm and poised as he ran the offense, again from the shotgun. He found running back Benny Snell open to the left. Snell secured the catch, ran, and leaped for the pylon. Result: touchdown!

In two preseason games, Pickett has completed 19-of-22 passes for 171 yards and three touchdowns.

On Saturday night, Pickett completed six-of-seven attempts for 76 yards (10.9 avg) for a quarterback rating of 151.5. By comparison, Trubisky was five-of-eight for 60 yards and Mason Rudolph logged 17-of-21 for 127 yards and the game-winning touchdown.