Pittsburgh Steelers QB Russell Wilson’s first-half interception took points off the board for the Steelers, as the team was in the red zone and instead gave Kansas City the ball back up 13-0. After the game, Wilson said he thought that WR George Pickens, who was lined up outside, would run vertically and help carry the safety to free up TE Pat Freiermuth, but Pickens didn’t complete his route and Wilson’s pass was picked off by S Justin Reid, who Wilson expected Pickens to be carrying. Wilson took the blame for the pass, though, and said it “can’t happen.”
“I thought he was gonna go vertical, but at the end of the day, it can’t happen, on me. I was trying to give Pat a chance, he’s done a good job for us down in the red zone, and they made a good play,” Wilson said after the game via the team’s YouTube channel.
As Nate Burleson broke down during the game, Pickens was supposed to run a go and hold the safety to the outside. Instead, Pickens stopped short on his route and Reid came over to double team Freiermuth and picked off the pass.
It’s shared blame by Pickens and Wilson on the play. If Pickens was supposed to go vertical and didn’t, then it’s just not following the play or the game plan, which isn’t a good look and was incredibly costly. It’s not easy to do, but Wilson also has to recognize there that Pickens isn’t deep and the middle of the field isn’t open for Freiermuth to make a play. But it’s not easy for quarterbacks with a pass rush coming down on them to analyze things super fast, so Pickens not running the route that Wilson thought he was ended up really being the main issue on that play.
The interception came one play after a holding penalty took points off the board for the Steelers on a Jaylen Warren touchdown, which made it hurt even more. While Pittsburgh would get a stop and score on their next drive, it wasn’t nearly enough for Pittsburgh, and scoring on that drive would’ve given them some momentum and could’ve changed the tenor of the game a bit.
Having Pickens back in the lineup is a nice boost for the passing game, but he has to do his job. He can’t just decide to sit down mid-route on a play like that where he has an important job of taking the safety with him to open up the field. There could have been a miscommunication on what Pickens was supposed to do, but Wilson was expecting him to go vertical and that didn’t happen, and it wound up being a key play in Pittsburgh’s 29-10 loss. It’s not a good look for Pickens, and all around, the Steelers offense has to do a better job limiting turnovers or things will continue to look the way they have the last two weeks.
