How different would things be if the Pittsburgh Steelers were winning games? All else being equal, including the largely inept offense, how would the attitudes in the locker room—and on the field—be different from now?
That seems to be a key consideration when weighing the case of WR George Pickens, whose behavior has been in the spotlight for most of the season. And particularly lately. His comments firing back at the media for not having a football background didn’t help himself.
While the Steelers did not make his media session publicly available yesterday, accounts from reporters indicate a series of responses that turned the blame on them for fueling negative discussions about him. Pickens suggested multiple times that they were in no position to judge what he does on the field.
And he continues to argue that it’s not his attitude that’s the problem—it’s the situation. “Everybody is mad when you lose”, Joe Rutter quotes him as saying for the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review. “A lot of media guys want to say it’s my frustrations, but it’s losing. I’m pretty sure everyone is mad, not just me”.
No doubt he’s right that the locker room is full of angry people. Anybody on a team that goes from 7-4 to 7-7 should be livid over their circumstances and how they got there. But while there have been some other incidents here and there that drew attention, it keeps coming back to Pickens and what he’s doing.
At one point during the interview while addressing criticism over his no-effort block last week, he pointed out that reporters were praising his blocking ability a year ago. He misses the point, of course, that it’s not his ability but rather his effort that is in question.
He is also developing a pattern of making excuses as a defense. On almost immediately disengaging from a block that could have allowed RB Jaylen Warren to score a touchdown and instead allowing his defender to hit the back in the head, he said that he was trying to avoid getting rolled up on.
Earlier in the season when he failed to get both feet inbounds on what should have been a touchdown, he said there was nothing he could have done differently—something I’m sure few would agree with. I’m sure going back, many people would take even greater issue now with his uninspiring response about his failed touchdown catch.
Let’s assume that his effort has become an issue. Let’s assume that his anger over losing is affecting his game, compounded by his lack of contributions in the process. How different would things be if the Steelers were actually winning?
Moreover, how different would things be if they were winning, but without him being a significant contributor? How different would things be if he were a major contributor, putting up All-Pro numbers, but the Steelers were still losing? Which scenario would he actually choose? He said back in August that he’s “a huge team guy”, after all.
