Watch: Steelers’ Pickett to Vaughns game-winning TD over Seahawks

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, Acrisure Stadium was full of Pittsburgh Steelers fans who had already watched one half of football against the Seattle Seahawks that showed an offense that was willing and able to get down the field and into the end zone. When rookie quarterback Kenny Pickett took the field in the third quarter, however, the crowd turned the atmosphere of a preseason game into a playoff bout, and the local kid gave the fans everything they could ever want.

With both teams tied, 25-25, Pickett was asked to put running back Master Teague to work and ran a two-minute drill that included pass attempts to Christian Blake. On fourth-and-one, however, Pickett was grabbed by Boye Mafe which resulted in the ball being turned over on downs.

On the very next play, rookie linebacker Mark Robinson dumped Drew Lock, forcing a fumble that teammate Tuzar Skipper was able to recover at the Seahawks’ 43-yard line with just 1:10 left on the game clock.

Now it was time to see what Matt Canada‘s offense, led by the rookie Pickett, could do with the time remaining.

Driving the Steelers offense 43 yards in five plays, Pickett, in the shotgun formation, threw a pass to Tyler Vaughns on an out pattern that might have been a short gain had Vaughns not made Josh Valentine-Turner miss the tackle. There was nothing but an open field for Vaughns after that and he sprinted to the end zone and dived over the goal line for the game-winning touchdown. The home crowd and Steelers teammates went wild as they celebrated the victory.

Vaughns’ touchdown came with just three seconds left on the game clock. Nick Sciba was able to tack on the extra point for a 32-25 Steelers victory that saw Pickett instantly embrace the excitement of the fans, stay cool under pressure, and finish the game with a highlight.

Pickett finished his first in-game outing with the Steelers by completing 15-of-13 passes for 95 yards and two touchdowns with a quarterback rating of 132.6.