The Pittsburgh Steelers turned their domination in Atlanta on Sunday afternoon into a nail-biting thrill ride late in the game. The Steelers were controlling the game but settling for field goals every time they got near the end zone. Pittsburgh ran the ball very effectively again against the Atlanta Falcons in a 19-16 victory that should not have been that close. The only touchdown for the black and gold was a pass from Kenny Pickett to third-string tight end Connor Heyward on a beautiful pass in the first half.
Photo Credit: Abigail Dean / Pittsburgh Steelers
Almost inexplicably Matt Canada decided to turn George Pickens into a decoy against the Falcons in his homecoming to Georgia. Pickens is an exceptional talent and ignoring him is a risky proposition. The former Georgia Bulldog consistently ran deep routes during the game and was virtually ignored in the game plan either by design or conscious choice. The Steelers always settled for field goals on drives throughout the game and when they took the lead 19-7 after Diontae Johnson couldn’t pull in an underthrown pass for six points, the broadcast team asked the question.
“You know if I am Pickens, I understand the frustration,” James Lofton a Hall Of Fame Receiver and CBS game analyst said. “Why throw a contested pass to your 5-10 guy, throw it to your 6-4 guy.”
The Steelers scored their final points seconds later with Matthew Wright’s fourth field goal and then after the Falcons ripped off a touchdown drive by running the ball at the Steelers' defense, a visibly upset Pickens was finally targeted for a two-yard completion with under a minute to go in the third quarter. The Steelers then rushed to get off a jet sweep to Gunner Olszewski that went absolutely nowhere. The first time the offense was stopped all day was a three-and-out at the worst possible time.
Thankfully the defense finally stiffened against the Falcons' impressive ground attack after a timely holding penalty made it first and goal from the twenty for the Falcons. The penalty nullified the potential go-ahead score by Cordarellle Patterson. After holding Atlanta to a field goal the Steelers' offense with a little over five minutes left in the game did its job. They marched down the field behind Najee Harris and Benny Snell who ran angry all day. Pickett overcame another ill-timed jet sweep call to Olszewski with a perfectly thrown pass to Johnson to pick up a key first down that allowed the Steelers to force the Falcons to use their timeouts on defense.
The Steelers punted to the Falcons rather than try a long field goal and Pressley Harvin delivered the best punt of his career, pinning the Dirty Birds on the one-yard line. Minkah Fitzpatrick sealed a Pittsburgh victory one play later with a fantastic interception for the black and gold. He could have easily scored to put the Steelers up 10 points but ran out of bounds to prevent any miraculous outcome and allow Pickett to kneel down for the first back-to-back victories of the 2022 season.
Abigail Dean / Pittsburgh Steelers
Pickens, who is a rookie who played for the Georgia Bulldogs, was obviously frustrated by the lack of targets in his homecoming game. The Steelers are no strangers to wide receivers getting upset but the lack of effort to get the rookie involved is just plain bizarre play-calling. He has unbelievable hands, is a very willing blocker and was twice targeted by Canada’s offense. The same amount as Steven Sims and Jaylen Warren. When he walked off the field after the three and out that gave the Falcons back the ball in the fourth quarter with a chance to take the lead, he didn’t mince words.
“Throw me the effing ball,” Pickens appeared to scream at the bench.
Photo Credit: Karl Roser / Pittsburgh Steelers
The Steelers force-fed the ball to Johnson all game against the Falcons. He had eleven targets, a key drop and a near-disastrous fumble. The only other Steelers player with more than two targets was Pat Freiermuth with five and after a huge catch and run to get the Steelers deep inside Falcons territory, he didn’t catch the ball again until the final drive of the game. Pickens was openly upset but the rest of the playmakers couldn’t be happy either.
The Steelers won the game and that is the important thing, but with young receivers, it is important to at least attempt to keep them involved. Pickett was heavily pressured when it looked like he was loading up to throw the ball deep which may have been supposed to go to Pickens. However, the only deep shot he actually threw was to Johnson. It is almost impossible to know who was responsible for their steady diet of Johnson. Was it Canada’s design or a rookie quarterback who got fixated on one wide receiver?
One thing is for sure, Pickens became inconsolable with a bitterly spoiled homecoming and the Steelers don’t have any choice but to do damage control. The remainder of the receiving corps is not up to the task of replacing Pickens and Chase Claypool, and Mike Tomlin has tolerated much worse in the past.
What do you think Steeler Nation? Do you think Pickens getting ignored justified his behavior or do you think that the rookie was wrong? Comment below or on my Twitter @thebubbasq.
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