The Pittsburgh Steelers put together a nice scoring drive at the end of the first half, getting a field goal after a deep shot to George Pickens. But Pickens almost didn’t get out of bounds as he thought he could score. Former Steelers quarterback and current analyst Charlie Batch didn’t have a huge issue with Pickens’ mindset, as he said Pickens was “playing football” on the DVE Morning Show.
“He was playing football. And it’s one thing to talk in the huddle, ‘Hey guys, we gotta get out of bounds,’ but whenever George caught it, he’s like, “I could possibly score!”
He added he doesn’t want to give Pickens too much credit, but it goes back to his “dawg mentality.”
“I’m ok with that because if we scored that, we’d go, ‘It was a heck of a play by George,’ but luckily for us, he stepped out prior to that and saved us three seconds. I don’t want to give him too much credit to say, ‘Oh, I knew what I was doing.’ That’s that dawg mentality. I love it, but he also has to understand the circumstances, and that’s gonna be a coaching point that Tomlin addresses in his team meeting this week.”
If Pickens hadn’t gone out of bounds in that situation, catching the ball along the sideline in field goal range, it could’ve been disastrous for the Steelers. They had the chance to get three, and if Pickens kept running, he may have been brought down after time ran out and the Steelers would’ve ended up with no points. Instead, Pickens went out of bounds with three seconds left, although it looked like he still got out with one second on the clock before it got overturned on review.
In that situation, getting any points is a win, so the difference between six and three isn’t as important. If Pickens did keep running and got brought down, it would’ve been a boneheaded play. Obviously, at the moment, he catches the ball and sees an open field ahead, and instinct says to keep going. However, as Batch said, understanding the circumstances and where you are in the game is important. Pickens likely did and that’s why he did eventually go out, but the Steelers may have gotten bailed out with him incidentally going out of bounds with three seconds left.
It’s an area where Pickens may need some work. Knowing the situation and knowing he doesn’t have to go for the home run every play, it is good to see that he does want to make a bigger play when he can. Three seconds left in the half might not be the time for it, but the mentality is correct. He just has to reign it in to make sure he’s playing the situation correctly.
