Snow was falling throughout the Pittsburgh Steelers’ 24-19 loss to the Cleveland Browns on Thursday Night Football, and it got heavier and heavier as the game progressed. Steelers WR George Pickens thinks the poor conditions “saved” Cleveland in the win over the Steelers.
“Just keeping grinding. Conditions played a huge, huge part in today’s game. I really don’t think the Cleveland Browns are a good team at all. I think the conditions kind of saved them today,” Pickens said via Mark Kaboly of The Pat McAfee Show on Twitter.
Cleveland’s win moved them to 3-8, but they beat the Steelers, so it’s a tough thing for Pickens to say he doesn’t think the Browns are a good team. Pickens had four catches for 48 yards in the loss, then seemed to get into some sort of altercation with Browns’ CB Greg Newsome II after the final play of the game. It’s not the first time Pickens has acted out after a loss, as he got into it with Dallas Cowboys’ CB Jourdan Lewis after Pittsburgh’s Week 5 loss.
Whether or not Pickens believes the Browns are a good team or not, saying they aren’t right after they beat you isn’t the best look. And while he is right that the conditions had a huge impact on the game, it’s something both teams had to battle through. The Steelers struggled to establish the run early in the game, and the only facet of their passing game that seemed to be working was their downfield attack and deep shots. Obviously, that’s limited a bit when the snow was falling as heavy as it was, and Cleveland was able to get yards on the ground more consistently and work more in the short and intermediate passing game.
The home crowd at Huntington Bank Stadium was also loud and played a factor, and it wasn’t a major surprise that Pittsburgh had a letdown after an emotional victory over the Baltimore Ravens on Sunday. But it’s just not a good idea for Pickens to be taking shots at the Browns after they went out and beat the Steelers, and came from behind late in the fourth quarter to do so too after Pittsburgh built some momentum by taking a lead late in the game.
The conditions are also just something to take into account when you play in the AFC North at this time of year, and it’s weak to use it as an excuse. The good news for Pickens and the Steelers is that they’ll have 10 days to move on and prepare to get back on track against the Cincinnati Bengals in Week 13.
