Ahead of the Sunday Night Football matchup between the New York Jets and Pittsburgh Steelers at Acrisure Stadium, there was one key matchup within the game that could have been considered marquee and could have led to fireworks for either team.
Yet, the Jets — for some reason — shied away from the matchup, and in the end were burned.
That would be the matchup of Steelers WR George Pickens against Jets CB Sauce Gardner.
Gardner already has two All-Pro seasons under his belt and is considered one of the best corners in all of football, while Pickens has all the talent in the world, but has had a rocky season overall.
On Sunday night, he found his game again with the change at quarterback to Russell Wilson, and he did most of his damage outside of the matchup against Gardner. That left former NFL quarterback and current NBC Sports analyst Chris Simms incredulous that the Jets didn’t put Gardner on the Steelers’ top weapon more often.
“I mean, the Jets defense, they got so many players, they can make a play or a stop here in a big moment. I mean, that’s what I think is just disappointing with me. 23-15, just let the Steelers march down the field on 11-play, 75-yard drive. There’s one guy on the Steelers that can beat you. His name is George Pickens. And what did the Jets do? Left him one-on-one the whole night,” Simms said on his “Chris Simms Unbuttoned” podcast early Monday, according to video via the show’s YouTube page. “Oh, we have a great corner in Sauce Gardner, but we’re not gonna match him up with him at all.
“We’re just gonna tell everybody how great our corner is and keep him on this side of the field so we can keep playing zone. He’s the perfect matchup for George Pickens. The only way you’ll lose the game is if you let George Pickens start to go off. They let him start to go up. Disappointing all around.”
It was rather surprising that the Jets didn’t have Gardner follow Pickens throughout the night, especially with D.J. Reed inactive due to a groin injury. But that puzzling decision played right into the hands of the Steelers as Wilson targeted his No. 1 weapon time and time again.
That resulted in five receptions for 111 yards and a touchdown on nine targets, which also included a 29-yard pass interference penalty.
Ironically, the pass interference was called on Gardner while Gardner also helped force an incompletion in the end zone later in the game, too.
Outside of that, though, the two weren’t matched up all that often, which cost the Jets.
Pickens’ 44-yard catch in the first half to spark the Steelers’ offense came against cornerback Brandin Echols. His touchdown came against Jarrick Bernard-Converse with Gardner out of the game due to an injury. Pickens’ juggling, acrobatic catch was against Jets safety Ashtyn Davis with Gardner nowhere near the play.
To the Steelers’ credit, they took advantage when Pickens wasn’t matched up with Gardner, targeting him heavily. Even they had to be surprised Gardner didn’t travel with him. But that surprise led to execution and led to points for the Steelers.
