QB Russell Wilson threw a red-zone interception that hurt the Pittsburgh Steelers’ chances of cutting into the Kansas City Chiefs’ lead in Week 17, and it’s a play where WR George Pickens drew some blame for not running the route that Wilson expected. Wilson said he anticipated Pickens going vertical and carring the safety but put the blame on himself for the interception while former NFL wide receiver Terrell Owens blamed Pickens for not running his route and said he caused the pick. Mike Tomlin absolved Pickens of blame on the play Monday.
“George’s route running had zero to do with that interception. George was fine last weekend, or last Wednesday,” Tomlin said during his weekly press conference on via the team’s YouTube channel.
Chiefs safety Justin Reid said he was “never concerned” with Pickens and even if he had gone vertical, that it would’ve been the same result. Tomlin seems to think the same, and frankly, Wilson just didn’t make a great decision. It was a forced throw into double coverage, and even had he expected Wilson to go vertical, it was still a risky throw.
Wilson’s decision making over the last two games has been a little bit suspect. He’s thrown two interceptions in big moments and also had a key fumble in Week 16 against the Baltimore Ravens when he didn’t slide inside the 5-yard line. Those are the things that can’t happen for a contending team, and Wilson knows he has to be better. With a long layoff before the team hits the field in Week 18 against the Cincinnati Bengals, hopefully Wilson and the offense can be more disciplined and avoid committing costly turnovers.
Pickens is a key part of Pittsburgh’s offense, but he’s had issues with keeping his focus at times and showing frustration on the field, but in this case, it wasn’t an issue by Pickens that caused the interception. Even if it’s just Tomlin providing lip service to not call Pickens out publicly, it was a pretty strong answer by him.
Regardless, it’s a play that the Steelers need to move past and a play they need to avoid making again. For an offense that hasn’t been anything special over the last few weeks, red-zone turnovers are absolutely brutal and will kill this team’s chances. If it becomes a recurrent issue, Pittsburgh won’t win in the postseason, and it should be something that’s cleaned up.
