George Pickens and the Pittsburgh Steelers’ offense came alive when they were needed most in Sunday’s 17-10 win over the Baltimore Ravens. Pickens had his best performance of the season, catching six passes for 130 yards and a touchdown. But no play was more notable than his 41-yard score to give Pittsburgh its first lead of the day with just over a minute to play.
Speaking to CBS Sports Evan Washburn after the game, the man who threw the ball, QB Kenny Pickett, explained what he saw.
“They were going zero,” Pickett told Washburn. “They heated up the Colts a bunch. I don’t’ think they handled it as well. So I wanted to make sure we handled it. They gave it to us earlier and I got hit on it. So in clutch moments like this, felt like they were going to come back to it. Got it adjusted, George won on his route, and it was a big play for us.”
The “zero” Pickett is referring to is Cover Zero. It’s an all-out blitz that offers zero safety or zone help. The players who cover are in true man-coverage, 1v1, and it left Pickens matched up on CB Marlon Humphrey, who returned Sunday after missing time due to injury.
Pickett took the downfield heave and put the ball on the money complete for a touchdown. Take a look at the play.
Pickett to Pickens found its chemistry again. Pickens finished the day with six catches for 130 yards and that score. After struggling to hook up downfield throughout the first four games, the two were able to hit a pair of back-shoulder throws and that long ball for really the first time all season.
They fixed an issue we wrote about earlier in the week, Pickett not able to fire downfield and along the sideline at the rate he did as a rookie. Those numbers changed after today.
The Steelers’ offense certainly wasn’t pretty Sunday. The first half was another slog and it stretched into the second half. At one point, there were as many chants to fire OC Matt Canada as Pittsburgh had points on the board. But in true fashion, the Steelers kept it close until the final five minutes, made clutch plays (Pickens’ touchdown, Joey Porter Jr.’s interception, Alex Highsmith’s strip/sack fumble) and won in the game’s last seconds. Typical Steelers. Typical Steelers-Ravens.
