Pittsburgh Steelers WR George Pickens had himself an interesting stat line yesterday: 6 targets, 1 catch, 0 yards. He dropped a handful of passes, or at least failed to hold on to them through contact. It was certainly a day to forget—for him and the Steelers, anyway. Bengals CB Cam Taylor-Britt and the rest of his team will remember.
While the Steelers publicly vouched for Pickens, who ended the season on a low note, including a prolonged injury that cost him three games, there is no question he didn’t have the year he or anybody wanted for him. And while there’s still a playoff game to play, he ended his third regular season on quite an inauspicious note. I’m sure Taylor-Britt will have no problem reminding him the next time they play.
“Everybody who guarded him ate today”, Taylor-Britt said of George Pickens, via Brooke Pryor of ESPN. “They didn’t do s—. So that was good on our end, man. That’s their momentum grabber. And we didn’t let them get no momentum”.
The Bengals relished their role in hindering the Steelers’ seeding. While they would have preferred robbing them of the division title—the Ravens took care of that first—their defeat of the Steelers will likely force them to play at Baltimore in the first round.
And they will do so while trying to get George Pickens back on track. It’s impossible to say why he had this kind of day, but he can only let it go now. After dropping a deep ball, he later allowed another pass to fall incomplete through contact. Later, he simply dropped a pretty easy pass. Finally, when Russell Wilson looked his way deep again, the ball wasn’t where it needed to be.
Pickens’ shot at redemption will have to wait. But at least Pickens knows he has another game to play. Cam Taylor-Britt and the Bengals still need to wait to find out if they will get the help they need. And they need the Las Vegas Raiders to beat the Los Angeles Chargers, which isn’t likely to happen.
Still, to the victor go the spoils, so Taylor-Britt and the Bengals will relish this opportunity to track talk Pickens and the Steelers. The Bengals reportedly blasted the Steelers’ rally song “Renegade” in the locker room after defeating them.
Saturday was one of the last chances George Pickens had to state his case for a new contract with the Steelers. While abbreviated due to injury, he finishes his third NFL season with just 59 catches for 900 yards and three touchdowns. Even though he did miss three games, he only saw three fewer targets than last season.
Earlier this year, Cam Taylor-Britt had a pick-six against the Steelers in coverage on George Pickens. It appeared Taylor-Britt illegally pushed Pickens to the ground, which should have been a penalty. However, the officials didn’t flag him for it, and he didn’t receive a fine, either.
While Taylor-Britt didn’t have his best game, and the Bengals already had to bench him once this season, right now, he has the bragging rights over Pickens. And you know a cornerback is going to make use of every opportunity to let a rival receiver know that. I’m sure Taylor-Britt will take advantage, but Pickens only has himself to blame after his ugly performance.
