The Pittsburgh Steelers narrowly beat the Washington Commanders, 28-27, and every snap of the second half Sunday felt very consequential as the two teams traded blows.
Russell Wilson’s first interception as a Steeler itself wasn’t that bad as it was essentially an arm punt on 3rd and long back to the 26-yard line. But it didn’t look that way at first with Jeremy Chinn returning the interception all the way back to the Steelers’ 37-yard line. It would have been yet another drive where the Commanders started with extremely favorable field position, which happened multiple other times throughout the game. Fortunately, George Pickens made contact to tag him down right after Chinn’s first interception of the season.
That wasn’t abundantly clear at first, so what Pickens did after the interception turned some heads. He explained that after the game via the Steelers’ YouTube page.
“Guy tried to get physical with me. A lot of guys like to do that so I got physical back,” Pickens said. “That’s pretty much it.”
When asked if he was certain that he had tagged the interception down by contact, he confirmed, “Yeah.”
It didn’t look so clear and obvious on first review, and his account of the events doesn’t exactly make sense when you look back at the tape.
Pickens barely swiped at Chinn to down him by contact before entering a spontaneous wrestling match with rookie CB Mike Sainristil. Pickens described it as getting physical back, but no contact was made between the two leading up to it. If Pickens was absolutely certain that Chinn was down by contact, I suppose it makes sense that he would get frustrated about someone trying to block him, but it was a bizarre sequence nevertheless.
Fortunately, the play was down by contact and the Steelers won.
Pickens had yet another strong performance with Russell Wilson at quarterback with five receptions for 91 yards and a touchdown. He had two catches that were unbelievable, though that is the norm for him.
