When the Pittsburgh Steelers and the Indianapolis Colts face off on Saturday afternoon, it’ll be a game with far-reaching AFC playoff consequences. Ahead of kickoff, the Steelers are the sixth seed while the Colts are the seventh seed. Then there are the rest of the 7-6 teams right behind them.
So if the Steelers want to embrace the chance in front of them where they “have control of our own destiny,” as CB Patrick Peterson put it, it starts Saturday against the Colts.
So what is the key to the game? Former DE Marcus Spears was asked that on ESPN’s NFL Live on Friday, and he focused on one specific player.
“George Pickens needs to have a day,” Spears said. “Eventually, this is going to have to take hold. We’ve talked about his talent, his ability to go 50/50 and win those matchups. He has to have a huge game at some point… They need to be explosive against the Indianapolis Colts because the Colts can absolutely be explosive from an offensive standpoint.”
The Steelers offense has been a massive disappointment in 2023, and Pickens hasn’t necessarily lived up to the hype this season. While he is part of that, he is far from the main reason why he hasn’t nor the offense as a whole hasn’t met expectations.
In fact, Pickens in some metrics is having a better season than his stellar rookie season. He’s averaging more yards per reception (15.7 in 2023 to 25.4 in 2022,) yards per game (59.0 to 47.1,) and first downs per game (2.4 to 2.2.) However, his catch percentage has dipped from 61.9% as a rookie to 58.3% so far this season. He also is averaging slightly fewer yards per target (9.5 in 2022, 9.1 this season.)
Fans are ready for Pickens to have a big game for the first time in weeks. He’s had three games with over 100 yards receiving this season, but he hasn’t hit that total since the 24-17 win over the Los Angeles Rams back in October.
There would be no better time than for Pickens to conjure up some big-time catches than in what is shaping up to be a must-win game against the Colts on Saturday.
