To the winner go the spoils. And the Jacksonville Jaguars will be celebrating their win over the Pittsburgh Steelers all the way back on the team plane to Duval County.
In a surprising war of words ahead of Sunday’s game against the Steelers, one that included plenty of back-and-forth between WR George Pickens and the Jaguars’ secondary, it’s safety Rayshawn Jenkins and his defensive back room getting the last laugh.
As tweeted out by Jags’ beat writer Demetrius Harvey, Jenkins made this quip in response to George Pickens’ “hope” comments earlier in the week.
“We’d have hoped they would have put up a better fight than that,” Jenkins said via Harvey.
Here’s how it all went down. Earlier in the week, Jenkins recognized Pickens’ talent and the strong year he was having but noted that he “hadn’t faced our corners yet.” Pickens shot back by saying the Jaguars’ defense relied on its pass rush to get home and their secondary had a “hope defense” that the front four could pressure the quarterback. That’s where things stood entering the game.
Pickens was invisible for most of Sunday’s game, held to just one catch on five targets as the Steelers’ offense mustered only 10 points. He made his lone reception count, a great 22-yard touchdown, but was held off the stat sheet for the rest of his day, a far cry from the repeat 100-yard performances he enjoyed in Week Five and Week Seven.
Jacksonville held Pickens and the Steelers’ passing game in check even with two key starters sitting out. Safety Andre Cisco and cornerback Tyson Campbell were surprise inactives and depleting the Jaguars’ secondary coming into the game. Still, Pittsburgh’s passing attack did little, QBs Kenny Pickett and Mitch Trubisky throwing for hardly more than 200 combined yards, one touchdown, and two interceptions. Again, Pittsburgh was shut out in the first quarter and managed only three points by halftime, following the similar unsustainable model the Steelers have used throughout their first six games.
With the win, Jacksonville moves to 6-2 and is in firm control of the AFC South. Now 4-3 with the rest of the AFC North filling up the 4:25 slate of games, the Steelers have to hope they won’t lose much ground before they kick off Week Nine with a Thursday game against the visiting Tennessee Titans.
