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I’m watching Sunday Night Football before the game, and I see Steelers WR1 George Pickens with the eye black.
This guy means business!
Then I see the game, and I do not see a whole lot of targets going his way.
And I certainly do not see a lot of catches being made.
And in a tight, close game, I did not understand what I was watching.
67% of the Steelers’ snaps came against stacked boxes by the Cowboys.
That was the most of any team last week.
92% of the Steelers’ run plays came against loaded boxes.
92!
The Cowboys were daring the Steelers to throw the ball.
And sure enough, running back runs weren’t successful.
They averaged 3.3 yards per carry.
Of their 20 RB runs, 0 produced explosive gains of 12+ yards.
Their longest rush was only 7 yards, the worst of any team.
They averaged 0.35 yards before contact, one of the worst marks of the week.
And yet the Steelers had a 32% pass rate on early downs to start the game, the most run-heavy of any team.
And throughout the entire game, the Steelers pass rate was only 54%.
No team that lost had a pass rate of only 54%.
Against those stacked boxes, on 92% of runs, why weren’t the Steelers passing more?
Then I looked at Pickens’ stat line after the game.
He’s their #1 WR after all. What was his stat line?
He ran only 20 routes, the fewest of any game this year.
He had only 7 targets, #2 fewest of any game this year.
He caught only 3 passes, also #2 fewest of any game this year.
And he produced only 26 yards, the fewest of any game this year.
Then, after the game, I heard this from Tomlin when asked about Pickens
#Steelers HC Mike Tomlin on George Pickens playing just 59% of offensive snaps:
“We just wanted to kind of minimize his reps in an effort to get more productivity… He wasn’t less of a focal point, in terms of our intentions of what we were wanting to do offensively, but we did… pic.twitter.com/31SSwFNzhV
— The Coachspeak Index (@CoachspeakIndex) October 7, 2024
“No underlying story, to be quite honest.”
No, that’s not being honest. Yes, there is an underlying story.
When I heard the logic, I was about to really sound off. And I know some Steelers fans did.
They were pissed about the usage from Pickens.
Forget thinking about reducing your WR1’s snaps as you’re losing a game.
Think about the inverse.
The Steelers thought it would help them win by increasing the snaps of worse WRs.
How does that make any sense?
But before I ranted, I watched the film.
George Pickens running routes last night
what do you notice? pic.twitter.com/viBVOL2I7K
— Warren Sharp (@SharpFootball) October 7, 2024
Pickens IS their best receiver, but he’s not giving the effort to even show up. And as a result, the Steelers can’t count on him.
He’s making life difficult for Justin Fields on the field.
He’s making life difficult for Arthur Smith calling plays.
He’s making life difficult for Mike Tomlin in the locker room.
I’m sure it’s like a virus, invading the entire bloodstream of the Pittsburgh culture.
Now, ultimately, it falls on Tomlin.
What you permit, you promote.
What you allow, you encourage.
What you condone, you own.
It sure as hell looks like the Steelers have a Pickens problem, and when you have a QB as limited as Fields, you cannot allow your WR1 to not do his job on the field.
It literally will tank the offense.
Oh, and did I mention the final play of the game?
Want to see the most effort I saw from Pickens all game?
George Pickens yanked Jourdan Lewis to the ground by his facemask at the end of the game 😭 pic.twitter.com/SpvUP9xQAm
— GhettoGronk (@TheGhettoGronk) October 7, 2024