Chris Mack's Eye Opener: King Kenny, Gametime Guentzel, What's "Tight End" in French?
4th Quarter Fiction
One of the sillier narratives being pushed in the wake of the Steelers comeback win over the Ravens at Heinz Field on Sunday is that we should all be bowing down at the altar of the Great Kenneth Shane Pickett, Eighth of His Name, the Slayer of 4th Quarter Dragons.
Does Pickett have a handful of quality performances in clutch moments on his resume now? Sure. You can't take away the comebacks against Indianapolis, Las Vegas, and Baltimore last year or the one on Sunday. In the game-winning 4th quarter touchdown drives of those games, he is 21-of-28 (75% completion rate) for 252 yards passing and 3 TDs. That's good for a 137.8 QB rating and a reputation as some sort of King of Clutch.
Unfortunately, games aren't just reduced to game-winning, 4th quarter TD drives. In fact, if you strip away those four drives, Pickett's 4th Quarter numbers are atrocious: 73-of-122 (59.8%) for 783 yards, 0 TDs, 6 INTs, and a QB Rating of 58.2.
And in the 4th quarter against the Browns last month? Pickett didn't complete a single pass, as his offense didn't score a single point.
Not to mention the half dozen times the Ravens let the Steelers hang around to have an opportunity to piece together that final, go-ahead drive.
Look, I understand football doesn't happen in a vacuum, and you have to have complementary football and blah blah blah… I also understand four drives in 17 games does not make a 4th quarter reputation.
You can be happy the Steelers won, excited they survived the Ravens, ecstatic that Pickett did, in fact, put together another one of those 4th quarter drives. But let's pump the brakes on anointing him just yet. There's a long way to go.
Guentzel Game Time Decision
From early August ankle surgery to early October participation in full practices, including a presence on the top power play, Jake Guentzel has made the rapid kind of recovery that would make 1995 Rod Woodson blush.
Yesterday, Mike Sullivan termed Guentzel "day-to-day" and said he'd be a "game time decision" for the Penguins' Opening Night faceoff against the Chicago Blackhawks at PPG Paints Arena tonight.
The rest of the Penguins' season-opening roster and lines are less-than-shocking, except for the omission of Radim Zohorna, who had a great preseason but still had to clear waivers and head to Wilkes-Barre/Scranton, and the demotion of Kris Letang to the second power play unit with the arrival of Guentzel on the top unit over the weekend.
With nine of their first 11 games against teams not projected to make the playoffs, and a fully healthy roster, there's an opportunity to jump out to a fast start if the Pens can find some early chemistry on a roster that's been turned over as much from last year as theirs has, especially on the aforementioned power play.
How Do You Say "Tight End" En Francais?
There's a lot going on at 3400 South Water Street, and with the Steelers on their bye, most of the chaos is focused on the other side of the building.
First, you have Pat Narduzzi refuting a report that his former starting quarterback, Phil Jurkovec, is now a tight end.
Then you've got the new starting quarterback's dad correcting the way you say his last name, albeit with a sly little nod to one of our city's greats.
Some have asked so: Lemieux -> Veilleux. The way you say the end of the first name is the same way you say the end of the second name. Example in video below. Ignore media guide. More importantly, cheer them on! #H2P #WeNotMe pic.twitter.com/QwJnJqUhvK
— Martin Veilleux (@veilleuxmartin) October 9, 2023
And let's not forget an undefeated #14 Louisville team coming in to Heinz Field on Saturday night.
