With Russell Wilson to George Pickens, it’s another week and another Steelers quarterback disagreeing with a no-catch call. Last week, Justin Fields threw a pass to Van Jefferson the officials ruled incomplete, which Fields disagreed with. In that case, I suspect he had a good argument, but the Steelers did not challenge.
During last night’s game, Steelers head coach Mike Tomlin did challenge Russell Wilson’s pass to George Pickens being ruled incomplete. Upon review, the call on the field stood, leaving Pickens with just one 4-yard catch on the night.
“[George Pickens] did a really good job on his choice route”, Russell Wilson said after the game, via the Steelers’ website. “I thought he was in on that go ball. That was a sweet catch. I thought he double toe-tapped that one”.
The Steelers were at the Buffalo Bills’ 37 on the play in question, facing a 1st and 10. Wilson threw deep down the left sideline to Pickens, who made a great play on the ball. He snagged it with his outstretched hands going out of bounds as he attempted to tap his toes inbounds. The only question, of course, is whether he tapped his toes inbounds and had possession at the same time.
I have to admit I’m not convinced, personally, that he managed either of them—much less likely both. In fact, I’m quite confident that he did not successfully catch the pass inbounds. His left foot had already come off the ground by the time he secured possession of the football in both hands. That doesn’t take away from the extraordinary effort, however, nor how close he came to making the play. He has that play in his arsenal, we already know, without question.
A 2022 second-round draft pick, George Pickens has been a human highlight reel since entering the NFL. He even managed to go viral simply from a video taken of himself watching as the Steelers drafted him. Since then, he wasted little time making a catch that had people comparing it to vintage Odell Beckham Jr.
Over his first two NFL seasons, Pickens caught 115 passes for 1,941 yards with 9 touchdowns. Particularly last season, so much of his production came from big plays, Pickens leading the league with 18.1 yards per catch. As you already know, he is no stranger to the highlight-reel catch, either, which this one nearly joined.
While he failed to safely secure this one—despite Russell Wilson’s protestations otherwise—Pickens remains a pivotal player for the Steelers’ offense. He is by far the premier receiving threat on the team, as of this writing.
And Wilson is probably going to have to rely upon the occasional Pickens magic trick this year, to be honest. I’m not sure how far this offense can go without some successful hero-ball passes and catches. But just because Pickens didn’t quite make this one doesn’t mean he won’t make the next one—he usually does.
