Whether by design or Kenny, nothing goes over the middle. Rewatch the game (games) and really watch Kenny and what you can see of the routes. Rewind and watch the plays 2-3 times. It is hard to see down field beyond 10-15 yards on tv, the camera often follows the qb/rush and rarely pans out to see deeper routes, so hard to tell if someone is open. It is amazing how much more many people claim to be seeing though... Maybe they are all at the game sitting close enough to see the route and Kenny’s eyes and not fall over drunk from tailgating like the other 80% at the stadium are? Not talking here, but comments from many fans seem to be parroting what they are hearing (sort of like politics). Occasionally they will replay people that got open, but usually the ball is already in the air at that point, but some he is obviously missing. He does have some inaccurate throws as well, many are communication or throwing the ball away, but others are just bad passes. Kenny is not playing well, but many other factors going into it, many we don’t know and never likely will. All added up though, I think it is more their scheme. Obviously bad throws aren’t part of the scheme, but nothing in the middle and rare deep shots, especially early in the game seem to be by design. Which makes me wonder if some of the wide open looks he is passing are what he is being told to do. I wasn’t all that high on Kenny as a Pitt fan, but most things that people are saying are his weaknesses, were his strengths at Pitt. He threw a lot of accurate deep balls over the middle. Enough that Jordan Addison was in the Heisman talk and disappeared from that talk at USC. He had other receivers and TEs that he threw to in the middle intermediate routes. Not throwing there came about with the Steelers.
The options behind him have proven to be about the same when given the opportunity. Do you take “about the same” or do you stick with the guy you thought could be the future? To me, it really comes down to, is he doing mostly what they are asking him to do. Or is he being talked to and not doing what is asked. If the latter, then you roll with “one of the same” and bench him. I tend to think they are telling him to not throw over the middle. That is where balls get tipped and many of his INTs came from last year (also many of Mitch’s). Letting him do a bit more when behind in the 4th, why he typically plays better then. Didn’t this week. It seems to take them a little while to establish the run and think they want to keep him under wraps until they can. An INT forces them to abandon the run early and no confidence in playing a full game without the run. If this is the case, absolutely no way Mitch goes in. He is basically the same guy that Kenny was when tossing as many INTs as completions. Mason I just don’t think they will turn to unless both Kenny and Mitch are hurt. Imagine what Mason would have done with that Browns pressure? Maybe more accurate on some throws, but likely twice the sacks and no opportunity at all for his long passing ability. Garret would have likely bent him over and given him one on national TV too…
When they drafted Kenny, I was completely against it (feel free to go back and look on here). I wanted them to ride with Mason and rebuild the line. Not patch work it as they have been. It appeared like they addressed much of it through FA, but it hasn’t shown against quality opponents. Jones does look to be a future stud, especially in the run. James Daniels is solid, but far from the all pro guys they have had in the past. Seumalo has been a disappointment from what I thought we were getting. Cole needs replaced. Not sure if Herbig is the answer or would likely see him more. Dan Moore did absolutely nothing in slowing Garret. In their defense, they are doing much better in their run blocking, but pass blocking is horrendous. Look up average time before pressure. They are ranked dead last. Their run blocking, average yard before contact for runners is pretty good and getting better. So their total rating isn’t bad.
It also seems to be what Tomlin wants to do in running the ball and keeping games close until the end. For what this team is, it really isn’t a bad strategy. Rather painful to watch since they aren’t really good at it. But rewind to the early 2000’s when they were a dominant team. It was all about Bettis, Fast Willie behind the best O-line in the league and a strong D. Ben was a game manager his first few years. They are just a lesser version of that now. They tried to take a short cut by getting the RB and QB before the O-line and we see the results.
A strong O line and D line has been the recipe for success for years. Eagles are proving it again. They make average skill players look much better. KP would be just fine behind a line like that. Harris would be a perennial all pro. They did well getting Jones on the O side and Benton on the D side. If Seumalo turns things around and they can address center and tackle in the draft or FA, the entire offense will look much better. Kenny will never be Mahommes or Ben. But he can be what Ben was, when they were a dominant team. Ben got much better, but they went away from that winning formula and tried to copy the high flying offense, which just never lived up to what they could have been. Ben’s prime with Brown and Bell, was probably their best offense ever. They made it to one superbowl and crapped the bed.