ORCHARD PARK, N.Y. -- The intonation felt as intentional as it was unmistakable.
And unshakeable, by the way, which might've mattered more in the moment.
"I gotta take a lot of ownership of this," Kenny Pickett was saying late Sunday afternoon in the visitors' locker room of old Highmark Stadium. And everyone had better believe the sentiment that immediately followed meant infinitely more than the Steelers just having been blown to bits, 38-3, by the Bills. "I'm the quarterback of this team. They drafted me in the first round for a reason, to go out and play."
Loved it. Every syllable.
And to repeat, this was supposed to be center stage on this day, remember?
Well, to me, it still was. Because all Kenny accomplished in his NFL starting debut was to throw for 327 yards, completing 34 of 52 passes for a 65.4 percentage -- alas, no touchdowns and one pick -- against the NFL's No. 1 pass defense, and to reach those figures with trademark poise and precision.
A half-dozen rapid-fire examples:
Notice the scanning of the full field. And all the different pass types. And the body control when rolling out. And the accuracy. And the absence of happy feet.
Oh, and that chef's-kiss touch on the rainbow to George Pickens.
OK, now try to picture how much better those figures might be if Diontae Johnson and/or Chase Claypool were a fraction as good as they think they are:
Drops aren't an official stat, and they're debatable in any context. But I counted five on my own, two each for the alleged 1-2 wide receivers on the roster, as well as four that cost the offense a first down.
Next, try to picture how much better Pickett's figures might be if Najee Harris performed with anywhere near the first-round pedigree we're now seeing at quarterback. As it is, Najee's still bumping into his blockers' butts, failing to find holes and showing negligible burst when he does. And maybe most telling, all three of those boxes get magically checked as soon as Jaylen Warren enters, so blaming the line's no longer applicable.
Next -- and I know this one's tough -- try to picture how much better Pickett's figures might be under an actual NFL coordinator, and not Matt Canada. The guy who watched Pickett go 5 for 7 passing on the first drive of his first NFL start and, before long, called four total passing plays over a span of three consecutive series, all of them three-and-outs. The guy who'll run on first and second down when trailing by three touchdowns. The guy who couldn't find a first-down marker with Siri's help. The guy whose offense has topped out at 20 points in 18 of his 24 games on the job. The guy whose offense has found the end zone in the first quarter a total of four times in those 24 games. The guy who couldn't throw deep in the fourth quarter because his route tree for-real doesn't extend that far. The guy who three days earlier publicly admitted -- and believe me, this was an admission -- that "I don’t think you’re going to see a drastic difference" between the plays that were called for Mitch Trubisky and the ones he'd call for Pickett ... undoubtedly because he can't concoct any on short order.
Fire him. Five minutes ago.
"This is our franchise quarterback," James Daniels would say afterward of why he rushed to Pickett's defense on one of the two occasions the Bills cheap-shotted him. And the big man was dead-on.
Look, I've tiptoed around this for months, and I'm done: Kenny's the franchise quarterback, in progress and for the foreseeable future. Because even if he were to falter -- and it's only fair to presume he'll struggle at times -- the cumulative impact of what he's shown to date with so little time, with so little prep, with so little help ... he's exceeded any reasonable expectation. He's earned the right to an extended engagement.
That's awesome for the Steelers. Really is. Don't dare lose sight of it.
The quarterback position, which had been the calendar year's most pivotal question mark, which had been the principal focus of everyone from Art Rooney II on down following Ben Roethlisberger's retirement, is settled as much as such a thing can be settled. And in a season that's already lost at 1-4, a four-game losing streak, Tom Brady on deck, trips to Miami and Philadelphia after that, T.J. Watt adding a scoped knee to his injury status, a Pat Freiermuth concussion here headlining several new injuries, there's now an excellent chance it'll stand as the main achievement.
But my goodness, how the script's flipped, huh?
Because here's what I'd say is the most pivotal question mark now: How is Mike Tomlin, a head coach who owns as much experience with rebuilding as he does with losing in the regular season, going to be the right man to make all the moves that now need to be made sooner rather than later?
Would anyone bet on him firing Canada at mid-season, for example? Even in the face of overwhelming evidence -- and for that matter, support within his own world, from everything I've heard -- to do so right away?
Would he dump/demote Teryl Austin in favor of Brian Flores, who's massively more qualified to that job?
Would he prioritize utilizing younger but legit promising players like DeMarvin Leal ahead of veterans like Chris Wormley who flat-out aren't getting anything done?
Would he drop Devin Bush and eat a massive mistake?
Would he take a few Ls if it meant long-term Ws?
Sorry, but I can't begin to envision anything of the kind. Not with him. Not when he's lived every millisecond of his coaching existence worried about nothing more than last Sunday's game, next Sunday's game and whatever's in between.
I did ask him, though, after this game if he'd now weigh changing some starting positions on defense, the sorest spot of late.
"Absolutely," came the surprising-to-me reply. "You play like we played today, you’ve got to be open to doing whatever's required to change the outcome of these games. That’s a given. I don’t think anybody is going to be surprised by our willingness to turn over whatever stone to change the outcomes of games like what transpired today. That’s just appropriate."
Oh, my.
He was then asked if that accountability would apply to changes on the coaching staff, as well.
"Like I said," he continued seamlessly, "I think everyone understands where we are and what transpired today and that it's not cool. So, you can draw whatever conclusions you want to draw from it. That’s just the reality of our business at this level."
There was more, too, when asked about nothing more than the team's compete level.
"I don’t have a lot of questions in that regard. I’ve got questions about the quality of our play and some of the positions that we put them in, but I don’t question that component in my gut as I stand here. We just got smashed today."
The positions who put them in?
It might be a fascinating 48 hours on South Water Street. Or it might not. Wholly uncharted waters.
Obviously.
GETTY
The Bills' Gabe Davis hauls in a 62-yard touchdown pass from Josh Allen in front of Minkah Fitzpatrick in the second quarter.
• Fire Canada. Six minutes ago.
• This isn't London. That 0-4 start in 2013 was awful. I was there. But that was an experienced group with an established record, which is why it could bounce back to finish 8-8 and nearly make the playoffs.
This four-game losing streak, the first since losing to the Vikings that day at Wembley Stadium, was capped by the team's most lopsided loss since 51-0 to the Browns way back on Sept. 10, 1989.
"We just got smashed today," Tomlin remarked on the score, after which he'd use the term 'smashed' twice more in the press conference. "We know it's capable of happening. Just disappointed that we didn't coach well enough or play well enough to prevent if from happening. We need to absorb the position that we are in, what transpired today. And we've got to know that there's going to be better days."
• The postgame locker room was, in general, not a wonderful place to be. A couple tempers flared. Faces were stern. Movements were slow.
It's asking a ton, I'd say, to expect the rookie who led the Steelers out of the tunnel to be among those who helps lead/manage this scenario, whichever way it morphs. But Kenny sounds up to that, too.
"I think there's ways to do it, right?" he'd answer a question on that subject. "I mean, there's definitely ways to do it. There's no finger pointing, ... I was ready to go once they drafted me. I wanted to be the guy. So there's a lot of things that come with that. And I think the way I work and how much effort and time I put in with these guys, I think the respect is there. When I'm talking to guys, there's no disrespect, there's no calling anybody out. We all want to win. ... And the road doesn't get easier, so it's got to get fixed quickly."
• Tomlin on why the Steelers, down by 24-3 in the second quarter, tried to kick a field goal: "We got a penalty prior to that possession down, so fourth-and-long went to fourth-and-longer. I want to be thoughtfully aggressive, but I don’t want to be stupid. When we’re kicking our own butt getting pre-snap penalties, I’m not going to do that to him or to them."
Meaning Pickett, of course.
I hear the logic but don't agree. This game was going to take 30 points to prevail, and that wasn't going to come via any number of field goals.
• No, I wouldn't bench Najee for Warren. Not yet. But I also wouldn't object to a redistribution of carries.
• This is a repeat: Pickens is this team's No. 1 wide receiver. Not of the future, but right flipping now. Treat him as such.
In this one, the kid had a team-high six catches for 83 yards, including a 29-yarder, and he did so on just eight targets. By comparison, Johnson had five catches on -- sit down for this -- 13 targets!
If Canada's unable to process what's above for whatever reason, paint it on a big sign that everyone else will be required to touch on the way out to the practice fields this week: Pickens. Is. This. Team's. No. 1. Wide. Receiver. Then, have them read it out loud to him.
• Either that or just fire him. Seven minutes ago.
• Not to pile on Johnson or Claypool, but ...
Take a break from reading this. Stand up. Now fall forward onto your face. Now get up, clean up the mess on the floor and measure the distance. That's roughly how many yards after the catch Johnson's got this season. It's not just about the drops.
Take another break. Stand up. Now fall backward for absolutely no reason into someone standing behind you. Now get up, apologize, and collect any collateral damage. That's Claypool's reflex to a deeper ball coming his way.
These are still being labeled and applied as if they're better than Pickens. At anything.
• Eight minutes ago.
• It's both accurate and convenient to place partial blame on the defense's collapse since Cincinnati on injuries. But it also feels like there's a waning sense of confidence, so I asked Myles Jack, one of the few defensive players still performing up to par, if that were the case:
OK. He's out there. I'm not.
• Like, it's one thing to be beaten. But beaten up? The Steelers? On both sides of the ball?
• If the Bills aren't headed to the Super Bowl, I sure wouldn't want to face the AFC team that's currently even half as good.
• Josh Allen's just ... wow. That's the NFL's MVP right now, and I'm not accepting arguments:
Try, try, try to set aside all that's going awry on those plays from the Pittsburgh perspective. The opposite view is that those are just gorgeous from the Buffalo perspective, particular the latter one to Gabe Davis, who had Minkah Fitzpatrick striding right alongside.
In the same breath, I'm comfortable saying these sequences weren't defended as well as they could've been.
Or schemed:
CBS
That freeze-frame's from a couple seconds into the 98-yarder. Believe it or not, that's Minkah standing right next to Jack, neither of them having budged yet. Now, Davis could've been covered way better by Levi Wallace, then Tre Norwood. That's where the blame for execution lies. But tell me, please, which of the resident defensive geniuses slid Minkah up to the line in that setting and why? If a safety's up in the box on third-and-10 and not blitzing, what, pray tell, could be his purpose? If he's spying Allen, why'd it take two?
I joked in my gameday column that we'd see Minkah playing more center field than Bryan Reynolds in this game, since the team entered without the Nos. 2 and 3 safeties, Terrell Edmunds and Damontae Kazee. So I sure didn't expect to see them gamble on the Bills' opening possession by trusting Norwood as the last line.
• Nine minutes ago. Or 10. Or whatever. Just do it already.
• Thanks for reading, as always.
THE ESSENTIALS
THE INJURIES
Hurt in the game: TE Pat Freiermuth (concussion protocol), CB Levi Wallace (concussion protocol), DT Larry Ogunjobi (back), CB Cam Sutton (hamstring), the latter an aggravation. Chris Halicke has a full report.
The inactives: S Terrell Edmunds (concussion protocol), CB Ahkello Witherspoon (hamstring), QB Mason Rudolph, WR Gunner Olszewski, G Kendrick Green, DE Isaiahh Loudermilk, LB Mark Robinson
THE SCHEDULE
It's back home next Sunday to see Brady and the Bucs, 1:02 p.m., at Acrisure Stadium. After that, trips to Miami and Philadelphia leading into the bye week. Buckle up.
THE MULTIMEDIA
THE CONTENT
Visit our team page for everything from our football staff of Chris Halicke, Eddie Provident, Ramon Foster, Matt Williamson and myself.