There were many individual plays that you can circle from the Pittsburgh Steelers’ loss to the Indianapolis Colts that, had they gone the other way, we would be talking about a 4-0 football team. One of the big ones that has been lost in the mix among the many other self-inflicted wounds is George Pickens’ fumble in the red zone.
“That’s become a very Pickens play,” Chris Long said on his Green Light podcast this afternoon to describe the fumble where Pickens was careless with the football. “That’s a Pickens play to me, which is not good. Because you’re so damn talented. This guy could be a Hall of Famer, just take care of the ball.”
That play showed the best and the worst of Pickens. He caught the pass, ducked the first tackle to pick up some extra yards, but then palmed the football and fumbled on the 5-yard line while the Steelers were down 17-0. They desperately needed points, and Pickens turned over the football. Considering the Steelers lost by three points, it was a very costly turnover.
That was Pickens’ first fumble of the season, but he had three in 2023. He needs to protect the football better, but a lot of it can be chalked up to mental errors. It seemed like he was preparing to be able to dive and extend with one arm reaching out for the pylon, which is why he had the ball in his palm like that. He should just get out of bounds with a 1st and goal for the offense.
Another one from this season was Pickens trying to break away for a touchdown in the second quarter with just seconds remaining on the clock after a big reception. They were easily in Chris Boswell’s range, but he very nearly cost them an opportunity to kick the field goal because he attempted to break back inside. Call it a mental error, or him just getting greedy and seeing a path to the end zone. It was bound to hurt the team at some point.
There are countless other examples of Pickens palming the football that haven’t resulted in fumbles. He often reaches out with one hand to gain an extra yard or two on plays or reach for first downs. Some of that is necessary, some of it isn’t, but protecting the football should always be priority number one.
It isn’t all negative for Pickens. He had a nice game yesterday and has great chemistry with QB Justin Fields and the deep ball. But this one was costly, and many will remember this game for his fumble rather than his seven receptions for 113 yards.
