Last week, Steelers fans witnessed what they have been waiting all season for – an electric passing performance. Mason Rudolph threw for 290 yards, two touchdowns, and zero interceptions in a 34-11 rout of the Cincinnati Bengals.
Perhaps the most encouraging thing from that game was the breakout performance from George Pickens. Going into the game, Pickens had never had a game with over 130 yards and had also never had multiple touchdowns in the same game.
That all changed on Saturday, as Pickens racked up 195 yards and two touchdowns, shouldering the majority of the Steelers passing output.
Former Jacksonville Jaguars RB and current NFL.com analyst Maurice Jones-Drew expects the strong play from Pickens to continue. His Week 17 bold NFL prediction is a 200-yard game from Pickens.
“George Pickens put on a show last week, recording a career-high 195 receiving yards with two touchdowns against the Bengals.” Jones-Drew predicted. “The young receiver dials up an encore performance one week later. With a playoff spot on the line, Mason Rudolph targets him 12 times, with Pickens hauling in 10 catches for 200 yards in another career day.”
This would certainly be a welcome outcome for the Steelers and their fans, as 200 yards from Pickens would almost certainly be accompanied by a Pittsburgh victory. And Pickens has had a bit of a boom or bust style to his game all year, making huge plays in one game, and seemingly not being involved in the offensive gameplan much in the next.
The 200 yards is probably not the most outlandish prediction, considering he was half a first down away from getting there last week. What might be a bit more of a long shot is the ten receptions. Pickens hasn’t had more than six in an NFL game and has gotten ten targets only twice. He converted those targets into six and four receptions respectively.
In fact, to find a game where Pickens had double-digit receptions, you have to go back to his freshman year of college: New Year’s Day 2020. He had 12 receptions for 175 yards in a score against Baylor in the Sugar Bowl, which Georgia won 26-14.
While we would certainly like to see Pickens do something that he hasn’t done in almost four years, it’s hard to expect it. Especially because Pickens will likely see at least some coverage from Seattle CB Tariq Woolen, who has had a great season. But if we have learned anything about George Pickens during his short NFL career, it’s that he is capable of going off at any moment. Unfortunately, he’s also capable of disappearing at any moment. Hopefully, this connection he seems to be forging with Rudolph is legitimate.
