Ben Roethlisberger Thinks Steelers Should Shut Kenny Pickett Down For The Season

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The Pittsburgh Steelers still have an outside shot at making the playoffs with three games left in the regular season. Kenny Pickett being under center gives them the best shot at reaching the postseason, but Steelers legend Ben Roethlisberger thinks it may be time to shut down the rookie QB.

Pickett suffered what was his second concussion in an eight-week stretch against the Baltimore Ravens on December 11. After being sidelined last week for the Steelers' win over the Carolina Panthers, head coach Mike Tomlin announced on Tuesday that Pickett is expected to start against the Las Vegas Raiders on Saturday night.

Roethlisberger explained why he doesn't think that playing Pickett is the wisest decision on a recent episode of his 'Footballin' podcast.

“I don’t ever give up. I don’t want to say ever ‘listen I’m done for the season’, but at some point, if you’re the franchise and you’re not gonna make it, you’re not going anywhere, it might be smart to shut him down,” Roethlisberger explained. “If he’s your guy of the future, which obviously he is, maybe it’s smart to do that.”

As it stands heading into Saturday's home game against the Raiders, the Steelers have less than a 1% chance of making the postseason. Their odds will increase with a win, but ever so slightly.

Pittsburgh will need to win its final three games of the regular season and hope that a number of other must-have scenarios play out in order to punch its ticket to the playoffs.

The Steelers are holding on for dear life and perhaps if they lose this weekend then Tomlin will listen to Roethlisberger and other critics and shut down Pickett for the final two games of the year.

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Mark covers all sports at OutKick while keeping a close eye on the world of professional golf. He graduated from the University of Tennessee-Chattanooga before earning his master's degree in journalism from the University of Tennessee. He somehow survived living in Knoxville despite ‘Rocky Top’ being his least favorite song ever written. Before joining OutKick, he wrote for various outlets including SB Nation, The Spun, and BroBible. Mark was also a writer for the Chicago Cubs Double-A affiliate in 2016 when the team won the World Series. He's still waiting for his championship ring to arrive. Follow him on Twitter @itismarkharris.