After recording his third 100-yard game of the season against the Los Angeles Rams, Pittsburgh Steelers WR George Pickens had a pretty quiet afternoon against the Jacksonville Jaguars. Pickens finished the game with one catch on five targets for 22 yards and a touchdown. While managing to get into the end zone for Pittsburgh, he not have near as much of an impact as he did in Pittsburgh’s last two victories against the Rams and Ravens.
Backup QB Mitch Trubisky mentioned after the game that Jacksonville was playing Cover 2 to his side and clouded him for most of the contest, taking away the opportunity to go to Pickens downfield. QB Kenny Pickett, who left Sunday’s game with a rib injury, echoed the same sentiment on Tuesday, stating that the Steelers need to be more creative to keep their biggest playmaker involved when opposing defenses are trying to take him away.
“We gotta do some different things and moving him around,” Pickett said to the media on video from 93.7 The Fan’s Twitter page. “Diontae [Johnson] was obviously big early. He made a lot of plays for us, and then it swung over to George’s side in the end when he had that slant for a touchdown. It’s about moving around, being versatile, and getting him the ball.”
Johnson did step up as the Jags focused on limiting Pickens’ production, catching eight passes on a whopping 14 targets for 85 yards. Still, Johnson and Pickett missed on a couple of big potential plays that would’ve impacted the game, including a would-be touchdown where the two weren’t on the same page. Pickens did end up getting involved later in the game with the Jaguars nursing a two-score lead, catching a slant over the middle and hurdling S Andrew Wingard as he split a tackle attempt by two defensive backs to get into the end zone to keep Pittsburgh in the game.
OC Matt Canada also stressed the importance of attempting to scheme up advantageous matchups for Pickens to help him when teams are looking to take him away on the outside. One potential solution would be to use Pickens more in the slot, being a natural mismatch for most slot cornerbacks and safeties that may come down and match up with him as we have seen Pittsburgh do more on occasion this season.
When you have a talented player like Pickens on a struggling offense, you must expect opposing defenses to do everything in their power to try and take him away to put Pittsburgh in a tough spot when it comes to moving the ball and scoring points. That’s where Canada and the offense must be creative in how they utilize Pickens, getting him in position to succeed, even when the defense wants to neutralize him. Moving him around more would help keep defenses from keying in on him on the outside every play. Continuing to get Johnson and Allen Robinson II involved will also only help take additional focus off Pickens and lead to more one-on-one opportunities for him.
