Steelers studs and duds Week 3: Time to consider Kenny Pickett

Stud: George Pickens, WR

Cleveland had just taken a 7-0 lead on an Amari Cooper touchdown and Pittsburgh needed to answer. They did so thanks to a huge play from rookie George Pickens.

On second-and-three, Mitchell Trubisky threw it deep to Pickens who was one-on-one with fellow rookie Martin Emerson. Despite good coverage, Pickens extended with one arm and hauled in a 36-yard reception with one hand.

https://twitter.com/PFF/status/1573112158166065153?s=20&t=umeY2fN7UXNf-XDzHfYtqw

That catch put the Steelers inside the red zone and Najee Harris capped the drive off with a touchdown to tie the game at seven. Like much of the offense, Pickens was quiet after that, finishing with three catches for 39 yards, but he made the plays when the ball was near him.

Dud: Mitch Trubisky, QB

In the first half of this game, Mitch Trubisky looked much better than he had throughout the first two weeks. He was pushing the ball downfield and had his team up 14-13 at the half.

But then in the second half, things went in the wrong direction. Trubisky threw an incompletion on third-and-five forcing a punt on their first drive of the third quarter — ruining a shot at building a big lead. He then led three consecutive three and outs, leading to punts that allowed the Browns to completely take over the game.

By the time he mustered up a seven-play, 63-yard drive to get a field goal, it was too late. Trubisky was erratic with 20-of-32 passing for 207 yards — and the Steelers might seriously need to consider switching to Kenny Pickett during their extra time off.