Ahead of the Week 16 matchup against the Baltimore Ravens with major AFC North title implications, many are monitoring the injury report for the Pittsburgh Steelers with bated breath to see if a key playmaker can go.
No, it’s not star outside linebacker and game-wrecker T.J. Watt — though he is very important. It’s actually wide receiver George Pickens, who is far more important to the success of the Steelers’ offense this season than anyone could have truly imagined.
Without Pickens due to a hamstring injury against the Cleveland Browns and Philadelphia Eagles, things have been a struggle offensively. Last Sunday against the Eagles as the Steelers scored just 13 points, passed for just 123 yards and really couldn’t do anything offensively in the blowout loss.
Now, ahead of the matchup with the Ravens, the Steelers desperately need Pickens back in the fold. He’s missed practice the first two days of the Steelers’ work week, putting his status in doubt for Sunday’s game. If he can’t go, it’ll be all the more difficult for Pittsburgh against a good Ravens defense.
For Yahoo! Sports’ Nate Tice, who appeared on The Mina Kimes Show to preview the Steelers-Ravens game, if Pickens can’t go the Steelers won’t have a natural answer for the Ravens’ defense in the passing game, especially with Pittsburgh likely being unable to run the football against a stout Baltimore front.
“So it’s just four yards, four yards, and this offense is built…like, that [deep balls to Pickens] was the easy button. The easy button was bombs to Pickens. This is the system for them. So without Pickens, it’s just like, alright, more tight ends, more Cordarrelle Patterson, and you’re going against a Ravens defense that has been better since they moved [Kyle] Hamilton around,” Tice said, according to video via the show’s YouTube page. “But you can’t run on them. The Steelers just don’t have a natural answer to go against this Ravens defense.
“So I feel it’s gonna feel a lot like last week. I think that a lot of these games will until Pickens is back on the field.”
Last week against the Eagles was a slog. The Steelers couldn’t run the football and struggled in the trenches against a great defensive front, which deployed a lot of five-man lines against Pittsburgh and controlled the line of scrimmage. Without being able to run the football, the Steelers weren’t able to play their style of football, and in the passing game nobody really got open downfield, leading to a lot of short throws from Russell Wilson.
It was all a mess.
It could all be a mess again on Saturday if Pickens can’t go. The last time the Steelers and Ravens matched up in Week 11 at Acrisure Stadium, Pickens saw 12 targets in the 18-16 win, hauling in eight passes for 89 yards, including a 37-yarder.
That day, Wilson threw for 205 yards and the Steelers ran for 122 yards, grinding out a win in which they struggled in the red zone and leaned on six field goals from Chris Boswell. If Pickens can’t go, someone needs to step up at receiver for the Black and Gold.
Preferably, that would be Mike Williams, who is a big-bodied receiver and can win in contested-catch situations like Pickens can. The problem is, he plays so few snaps that he doesn’t have a chance to truly impact the game. Van Jefferson, Scotty Miller and Calvin Austin III aren’t exactly natural answers to replace Pickens, either.
So, all eyes are on the status of Pickens. If he can go, that’s a significant boost to an offense that has struggled the last two weeks. If not, it could be another long day, making for a hectic stretch to close the season for the Steelers.
