The Pittsburgh Steelers defeated the Atlanta Falcons Sunday on the road 19-16. The Steelers' offense once again raced out to a big first half to take a 16-6 lead and then held on for dear life over the last quarter and a half to win 19-16. On his weekly Footbahlin with Ben Roethlisberger podcast, the legendary signal-caller and co-host Spencer T’eo welcomed James Harrison to Episode 14 to watch the entire Falcons game.
INDIANAPOLIS, IN - JANUARY 10: Georgia Bulldogs WR George Pickens (1) catches a deep pass against Alabama Crimson Tide DB Kool-Aid McKinstry (1) during the Alabama Crimson Tide versus the Georgia Bulldogs in the College Football Playoff National Championship, on January 10, 2022, at Lucas Oil Stadium in Indianapolis, IN. (Photo by Zach Bolinger/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images)
Late in the third quarter, Ben Roethlisberger stopped telling stories with Harrison about Super Bowl XLIII to discuss the Steelers' rookie Wide Receiver, George Pickens. Roethlisberger, who knows a thing or two about keeping temperamental offensive weapons happy, stopped the former defensive player of the year to share his thoughts on the first Pickens outburst.
“I’m going to tell a quick story, not a story, I’m going to tell you what just happened in this game,” Roethlisberger interjected. “It’s first and ten late third quarter and they just threw a pass to George Pickens. I’m going to tell you, this probably never happens on defense, I’m telling you cause there’s no sound, but I been watching. His body language, he had one target in the first half. They just showed him on the bench sitting there, pouting. They showed the coach sit down next to him and Cam came up and talked to him. You can tell he is mad.”
Pickens had demonstrated intensity during his rookie year, blocking and making spectacular catches that reveal special talent. Harrison and Roethlisberger had not made many observations about the game itself until this point, but Harrison agreed that Pickens should be frustrated with only one target.
“I guarantee what just happened,” Roethlisberger continued. “They threw a little three-yard completion to him. That is a prototypical offensive coordinator trying to keep a guy happy. They threw him a three-yard pass to try to keep him happy. We would do that to guys, hey we have to do something so and so is mad, he is fighting with everybody, we gotta throw a screen. You would do anything to get him the ball and that’s what just happened. Some guys that would be good, but we’ll see.”
Steelers' George Pickens (#14) celebrates his two-point conversion catch against the Indianapolis Colts. | Credit: Karl Roser/Pittsburgh Steelers
Unfortunately for the Steelers and Pickens, that wasn’t good enough. When the Steelers finished that drive three and out, Pickens had reached a boiling point. He threw his helmet down in disgust and mouthed an explicative and his desire to get the ball. The rookie had held himself in check earlier in the season when he was not the focal point of the offense, but to not have opportunities for him in front of his hometown crowd had to be insulting for Pickens. And on top of that he was wide open on several plays that went to other receivers for minimal gains.
It was of course par for the course for Matt Canada. He ran multiple jet sweeps to Steven Sims and Gunner Olszewski while virtually ignoring everyone else but Diontae Johnson. Johnson compounded the problem by converting less than half of his targets. Roethlisberger and Harrison discussed how the veteran quarterback might have approached the situation if he was the Pittsburgh quarterback this week.
“There would be games we would go into it,” Roethlisberger concluded. “I’m going to be honest with y’all, this ain’t going to be one of them games. We’re going to run the ball a lot and this is on Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday. Friday comes, they say I got you; we just want to win. Game starts, (Roethlisberger throws up hands) what are we doing? Didn’t we just have a talk, and you were cool about this? Man, I’m open though. I get it, but it’s raining, three degrees and we have 200 yards rushing and we’re up. Still, I’m open.”
Photo Credit: Abigail Dean / Pittsburgh Steelers
Roethlisberger didn’t single out Antonio Brown by name, or any other receiver he played with, but wide receivers are highly strung, and his point is well taken that a playmaker who is not part of the game plan requires extra maintenance. Young playmakers playing in front of their home crowd should probably get the opportunity to touch the ball by design if they are important to your offense and the former Georgia Bulldog is important. Pickens will learn from the experience, but if the 11 to 2 target disparity was not scheme, Kenny Pickett would do well to mend fences this week with his fellow rookie behind the scenes.
What do you think Steeler Nation? Do you think Roethlisberger was right and they only threw Pickens the ball to calm him down? Comment below or on my Twitter @thebubbasq.
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