Is there any other way that Pittsburgh Steelers fans would have preferred to see the team’s first drive of the season end than the way that it did? A 33-yard catch-and-run from QB Kenny Pickett to WR George Pickens on an inside slant with some efficient yardage after the catch put the exclamation point on what was at that point an already promising 50-yard, nine-play drive.
Three of the previous nine plays were passes to Diontae Johnson, all completions for a total of 32 yards, but it was Pickens who provided the splash and did so in a way that we did not see from him last year. it’s gotten Pickett as excited as anybody.
“Working through camp, having him move around a little bit, doing different routes, it was great to see the run after the catch that he had”, the second-year quarterback said of Pickens’ play, via the team’s website, “catching an in-breaker like that. Kind of went the way we drew it up, so it was a good first drive”.
Perhaps not exactly the way they drew it up, though, as he later said that Pickens was not his first read on the play. But he did what he was supposed to do on the play, making himself available and in position to make the play when it did come his way.
“I was working left and then came back to George on it”, Pickett said. “He did a great job. We’ve been working on that, an in-breaking route, man-to-man coverage, so it was good to see him separate, and like I said, the run after catch was awesome to see”.
The Steelers ran a four-man route combination, 2×2, with Pickens on the outside right and TE Pat Freiermuth in the right slot. With a little hand fighting, the big receiver beat his man inside off the line and turned the corner off the back of the safety, who stood pat to cover Freiermuth, who dropped into a shallow zone.
That left Pickens free cutting across the middle of the field. It was still a narrow window to a completion, which Pickett was able to find and hit. Thereafter, Pickens shook the tackle attempt of the initial defender before juking out the final safety for a clean six points.
If we can see this George Pickens complementing the George Pickens that was saw of last season, then he is really going to be the player we all imagine him to be at the peak of his potential. Nobody has been a greater advocate for him this offseason than Pickett, repeatedly praising him for his efforts to expand his game.
This drive-capping play is just a manifestation of all of that hard work that he put in on his own and with Pickett to get to the point. All of that goes unseen so that these plays can be made, and made to look easy, in front of the crowds.
