Andrew Fillipponi might need to step aside. There is a new hype man for Kenny Pickett in town.
The Steelers’ rookie quarterback looked solid in Pittsburgh’s disheartening 24-20 loss to the Jets Sunday, in which the defense surrendered two touchdowns late in the fourth quarter to blow a 10-point lead. Pickett’s performance was especially strong, considering he didn’t receive any first-team reps in practice all week.
But that doesn’t mean Pickett was flawless. The strong-armed passer still made a couple of mistakes, including his intercepted pass intended for Chase Claypool. Early in the third quarter, Pickett threw up a bomb for Claypool down the field, even though he was covered by two Jets defenders. It wasn’t the best decision.
But in the eyes of veteran CBS play-by-play man Greg Gumbel, it was a great toss. He said Claypool was wide open.
“Looking, throwing, deep! Has a man open! It is … intercepted by Jordan Whitehead!,” Gumbel screamed.
Yeah, not quite …
While Pickett’s decision wasn’t horrible — it was essentially a 50/50 ball — it’s clear that Claypool wasn’t open on the play. The ball was also under thrown.
It seems as if Gumbel got a little ahead of himself.
Pickett will likely produce plenty of highlights going forward, and he did on Sunday, such as when he threw a dime to Pat Friermuth after getting drilled in the backfield.
But his intercepted throw to Claypool wasn’t one of them, despite what Gumbel may have wanted.