We’re gonna be talking a lot about Kenny Pickett for the rest of this week.

Sunday was the latest edition of the patented Pickett game, a mediocre three quarters that get washed away by a Tom Brady-esque fourth quarter performance to swing the game for the Steelers.

Pickett went 7/7 for 138 yards in the fourth quarter, helping engineer two touchdown drives that ended with rushing touchdowns by Jaylen Warren and Najee Harris respectively.

The Steelers erased a 17-10 deficit to win the game 24-17, and while Pickett was putting together pure magic, the defense absolutely shut down Rams quarterback Matthew Stafford, who did not complete a single pass in the fourth quarter.

The win resulted in one of the craziest facts that we’ve seen in quite some time: Kenny Pickett has more wins in the Pacific Time Zone this MONTH than Ben Roethlisberger did his entire NFL CAREER.

Pickett went on the road and put together a solid effort to help his team beat the Raiders in Las Vegas just a few weeks ago in Week 3.

It’s rather fitting that he surpassed Ben by doing what he did best, slinging it late in games to come back and win. Even as his mobility evaporated, Ben still had it in him to throw the Steelers back into almost any game.

In his two western wins, Pickett has a gone a combined 33/53 for 465 yards, 2 touchdowns, and no interceptions. He’s undefeated in the Pacific Time Zone.

Meanwhile, Ben struggled mightily on the west coast his whole career, going an abysmal 1-8 while out there. The Steelers suffered a near-decade long drought out west with Ben at the helm, and even when that streak was finally broken, it was done not by Ben, but by Michael Vick, who led a 24-20 winning effort in San Diego while filling in for an injured Roethlisberger.

Ben’s one and only out west also came out in San Diego, in his first ever west coast start all the way back in 2005. No one would predict his first would also be his last.

Bill Cowher was still the coach of this team as the Steelers headed out west to face the Chargers in an early season matchup. A sophomore Roethlisberger was set to face off against Chargers quarterback…Drew Brees??? That’s how you know this game was odd.

Ben went 17/26 through the air for 225 yards and a touchdown. He added 15 rushing yards, including a 7 yard touchdown run. His baseline stats didn’t super outperform that of Brees, but his quarterback rating of 105.4 completely dunked on his opponent.

Brees went 20/35 for 219 yards, with a touchdown and interception, for a rating of 73.4.

Pittsburgh would not win in the Pacific Time Zone again for exactly ten years and two days, but Ben would never personally win out there again.

In his final opportunity, Ben nearly had things come full circle. Against the Chargers (now of Los Angeles), Ben went head-to-head with a sophomore Justin Herbert. Though Herbert outplayed Roethlisberger, Ben strung together a solid performance in his farewell tour of the west coast. He went 28/44 for 273 yards and 3 touchdowns, and crafted a 17-point comeback.

Pittsburgh actually took the lead in that game 37-34 with 3:24 left to play, but Herbert lobbed a bullet to Mike Williams for a 53-yard touchdown to seal it for LA.

Whether Pickett’s success so far in his young career is a sign of adaptation, or just pure luck, it’s not something that Pittsburgh is going to need to deploy all that often. However, they will need to dip into it one more time this season, on New Years Eve as the Steelers travel out to Seattle to pay the Seahawks a visit.

(Featured image by Gregory Bull/Associated Press)