The news that the Pittsburgh Steelers would be without No. 1 wide receiver George Pickens on Sunday against the Cleveland Browns due to a hamstring injury suffered Friday in practice was a big blow before kickoff. Losing that type of talent on an offense that relies heavily on Pickens in the passing game is never easy.
But in the end, no Pickens, no problem (mostly) for the Steelers on Sunday during their 27-14 win over the Cleveland Browns.
Things were ugly early as the Steelers went three-and-out on four of the first five possessions of the game. Russell Wilson and the passing game was completely out of sync, and things were rather difficult as far as guys not getting open and Wilson misfiring when looks were there.
Pickens’ absence was felt heavily early on.
But then, Wilson started to make some plays with guys like Mike Williams, Pat Freiermuth and Scotty Miller stepping up. Before you knew it, the Steelers had 27 points on the board against a good Browns defense.
For The 33rd Team’s Steve Palazzolo, who appeared on the Week 14 Check The Mic podcast Monday morning, it was a “positive development” for the Steelers offense to score 27 points against that Browns defense, while doing it without Pickens available.
That bodes well for Pittsburgh moving forward.
“Again, the stats weren’t outstanding, but I think if you have Justin Fields at quarterback in this type of game, I don’t think you’re putting those points on the board. And so, I think there’s still something to be said for the way Russell Wilson’s running this offense and just not making mistakes,” Palazzolo said of the Steelers offense under Wilson, according to video via the show’s YouTube page. “He’s been incredible at taking care of the ball and making good decisions. So I think that’s just another positive development for the Steelers offense, that even in…not even their best game, not even 300 yards of total offense, still able to score 27 and take advantage of those mistakes that the Browns made.”
The fact that Pittsburgh was able to do that against the Browns, a team that knows them very well, without Pickens and without changing the game plan, was pretty impressive.
Yes, things were a mess in the first quarter and a half. But once the Steelers settled down, got to halftime with a 13-7 lead, and was able to regroup, they ripped off two touchdown drives in the third quarter to put the game away.
The fact that they got big-time catches from guys like Williams and Miller was rather fitting, too. Williams had the game-winning catch against the Washington Commanders in Week 10, but since then hadn’t been targeted at all. On Sunday though, he was needed, and he came up big with his one-handed catch on a 22-yard completion from Russell Wilson.
Miller had a big 21-yard catch in the fourth quarter to convert on 3rd and 7, too, getting both feet down on a great sideline throw from Wilson. Without Pickens, the Steelers’ WR room answered some big questions about them moving forward, showing they can make plays in big-time spots and help out the offense.
That alone is a positive development for the Steelers’ outlook moving forward.
