Saying things do not look good for the Pittsburgh Steelers might be an understatement. En route to the postseason, the Steelers lost their final four games of the regular season. This latest failure against the Cincinnati Bengals especially stings because the Steelers had chances to win. Their offense just couldn’t ever find its footing. Rich Eisen is concerned with how that unit is going to hold up going forward, especially George Pickens.
“I’m genuinely alarmed at George Pickens’ performance tonight,” Eisen said recently on his YouTube channel. “Drops, that last throw, a little off by Russ [Wilson], but I think he thought Pickens was just gonna keep with a full head of steam to the sideline, looked like he kind of slowed up on that route.
“The drop by [Pat] Freiermuth at the end was kind of a stunner because he was the go-to guy all night, but that’s what happens when you’re struggling. It’s like pulling teeth. Sometimes you’ll pull the tooth, and other times, you’ll wind up needing a shot of Novocain to get through it.”
Eisen is right to be worried about the Steelers’ offense. They’ve had moments where they look competent, but they still haven’t been consistent. This latest performance against the Bengals provides a good summary of what their issues are.
For starters, Wilson’s play down the stretch has been abysmal. He’s looked vastly different compared to his first few games starting for the Steelers. While he didn’t turn the ball over against the Bengals, his decision making was still questionable.
Maybe nothing is as worrying as how Pickens looked, though. He’s supposed to be the Steelers’ most dynamic offensive weapon. Against the Bengals, who do not have a good defense, he posted one catch for zero yards. There’s no excuse for that. The team needed him to step up, and he had his worst game of the season.
That final pass to him is probably more on Wilson for tossing a bad ball, but Pickens didn’t help things at all. He did not look focused, dropping balls when he’s made more ridiculous catches before. Completing that pass likely would’ve won the Steelers the game, but no one could do anything right.
With only the playoffs left, there isn’t much hope the Steelers’ offense will figure things out. They had all season to iron out their wrinkles, and they came up short. They can’t run the ball well, they can’t find any rhythm throwing the ball, and now, all of those flaws are flaring up at the worst time. The Steelers might need something stronger than Novocain to fix their offense.
