Questions about Pittsburgh Steelers WR George Pickens’ emotional intelligence have followed him since his college days with the Georgia Bulldogs. But perhaps we also ought to raise concerns about his football intelligence. Two plays in particular stand out over the past week that call into question his situational awareness.
The most recent was from Thursday night on a play that cost the Steelers four points. It’s the simplest thing in the world: get both feet inbounds to complete the catch. Down 13-10, QB Kenny Pickett hit Pickens for what should have been a touchdown, but he simply did not stay inbounds.
And not by any means because it would have been particularly difficult to do so. That is precisely the point. This is about football intelligence, about situational and spatial awareness. A wide receiver needs to understand where he is on the field and what he needs to do to complete the catch. He fails miserably here, and there’s simply no excuse for it.
Having players on the field with high football intelligence is critical in terms of execution and in gaining advantages. These are the players who run to the line of scrimmage in hurry-up situations, who know when to avoid going out of bounds, who generally make the smart decisions that go beyond blocking and catching.
The other example from the week, against the Jacksonville Jaguars, is more forgivable from a football play perspective but still lacking in the kind of football intelligence that is the topic at hand. And it proved to be another costly mistake.
Down 9-3 with five minutes to go in the third quarter, QB Mitch Trubisky looked to hit Pickens on 3rd and 7 for a beautiful 16-yard sideline snare. It was close, and as it turned out, he was out of bounds. The problem is, he took his time getting back to the huddle, slow walking in celebratory effect rather than recognizing the situation.
The situation? He may not have completed the catch. And when you get a call on the field of a catch that is close, the smart teams rush to the line of scrimmage and run a play. Especially when not doing so is the difference between retaining possession and punting.
The Jaguars challenged and won, and the Steelers punted the football. And then the Jaguars scored a touchdown two plays later. Now it’s 17-3 instead of having 1st and 10 at the 43 in a one-possession game.
Now, maybe the Jaguars get the challenge in anyway, and rush to do so if they see the Steelers trying to get a play off. But you have to put the pressure on the opponent to make those rapid decisions or risk losing out on a bad call on the field.
Football intelligence. It’s important in the game of football. Who would have thought? And Pickens, the bright young star for the Pittsburgh Steelers, has exhibited a lack of it over the past two weeks, highlighted by these critical possession-down miscues. Never mind the fact that he just walked off the field after his teammate, WR Diontae Johnson, scored the go-ahead touchdown in the final minutes.
