It was a rather difficult week for second-year wide receiver George Pickens leading up to the Pittsburgh Steelers’ Week 16 matchup against the Cincinnati Bengals.
Pickens found himself dealing with major criticism from the fan base and the media after his lack of effort on a 1st-and-goal run against the Indianapolis Colts in which his defender made the tackle on Jaylen Warren short of the end zone. He followed up the lack of effort by criticizing the media and stating that all the criticism was coming from people who don’t play football.
Of course, Pickens’ comments led to head coach Mike Tomlin needing to address the media once again last Wednesday. There were questions about whether Pickens would be benched for the game due to his actions and comments, but Tomlin and the Steelers didn’t do that.
Pickens, to his credit, rewarded them.
The second-year standout receiver had four catches for 195 yards and two touchdowns in the 34-11 win over the Bengals at Acrisure Stadium, including touchdowns of 86 and 66 yards.
For former NFL offensive lineman and current analyst Ross Tucker, Pickens’ monster performance was another example of why he the football should be thrown his way more often.
“George Pickens was absolutely ridonculous in this game after a tumultuous week where he stopped blocking ’cause he didn’t wanna get hurt, and then he admitted that, he went out, and that’s why you throw him the ball,” Tucker said regarding Pickens’ performance against the Bengals. “I mean, he had two long catch-and-run touchdowns. Had a beautiful catch near the sideline.”
On the Steelers’ second snap from scrimmage against the Bengals, Pickens hauled in a slant route in stride from quarterback Mason Rudolph, made a Bengals safety miss in space and was off to the races for the 86-yard touchdown. It was a very similar touchdown to the one he had in Week Two at home against the Cleveland Browns on Monday Night Football, taking a slant route from quarterback Kenny Pickett to the house for a 71-yard touchdown.
That was just the start for Pickens.
Later, he had a 44-yard catch down the left sideline late in the first half, getting both feet miraculously inbounds, setting up a Chris Boswell field goal. That play was named one of the best catches of the season by ESPN’s Matt Bowen earlier in the week.
Pickens capped the monster night with a 66-yard touchdown from Rudolph on a 3rd and 1, running way from coverage and catching a dime from Rudolph in stride down the left sideline, leading to a huge answering touchdown from the Steelers after the Bengals had made it a 24-8 game following Tee Higgins’ 81-yard touchdown.
It was a tumultuous week, but Pickens showed his immense talents and proved once again that the Steelers have to ride the highs and lows with him moving forward because the talent is that spectacular.
