The Pittsburgh Steelers suffered a heartbreaking loss on Sunday night to the Dallas Cowboys. The game came down to the wire as Dallas scored with under 30 seconds to go to take a 20-17 lead, and that would remain the final score. The offense struggled throughout the game for Pittsburgh, and a noticeable absence in the game was wide receiver George Pickens. He made a few plays, but he wasn't on the field for a lot of Pittsburgh's offensive snaps.
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Pittsburgh Steelers receiver George Pickens celebrates during a game against the Colts.
Pickens only managed to catch three passes on the night that went for 29 yards. This was a bit of a disappointment after his big game in Week 4 against the Indianapolis Colts. His lack of production wasn't due to him having a bad game, it was because he wasn't on the field for a lot of it. Head Coach Mike Tomlin was asked about his star receiver being on the sideline during his post game press conference.
"You know we just wanted to kind of minimize his reps in an effort to get more productivity. Just trying to rep-manage in terms of the totality of the big picture. He wasn't less of a focal point in terms of our intentions in what we wanted to do offensively but we did want to cut his reps a little bit in an effort to get higher quality play. Just in general."
The way Pickens was being used it seemed as though he was semi-benched. There is no other reason for a team's best receiver to be out of the game as much as Pickens was, other than some sort of injury. After the Steelers scored on their first drive of the second half, his absence became noticeable as he had played less snaps than Calvin Austin III and Van Jefferson.
Associated Presss
George Pickens runs after catching a pass from Mason Rudolph during a 2023 Pittsburgh Steelers game.
The Steelers offense loses a serious threat without Pickens in the game. Receiver is one of the team's weakest positions, and the only reason the group is somewhat serviceable is because of Pickens' big play ability. Without him in the game a defense can focus on the run because the other receivers on the field for Pittsburgh don't seem to be much of a threat. Pickens played just 21 snaps during the game against Dallas, which is certainly unusual.
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Steelers wideout George Pickens watches from the sideline with Head Coach Mike Tomlin out in front of him.
Steelers' Tomlin Compares George Pickens To Cam Heyward
Tomlin essentially said cutting Pickens' snaps was done in an effort to get higher quality of play. This could mean higher quality of play from the other receivers on the Steelers, or higher quality play from Pickens. Giving him more rest so he can play better while on the field, either way, neither reasoning makes much sense. Tomlin spoke more about the decision to trim down Pickens' reps in Week 5.
"It's no different from when we minimize some of the snaps of defensive linemen like Cam Heyward and so forth man. It's just about snap management, no underlying story."
Pittsburgh often takes Cam Heyward off of the field in the middle of drives in order for him to catch his breath and give his best effort possible while he is on the field, but teams don't usually do that with a third-year wide receiver. Tomlin stated there is no underlying story, but his reasoning for Pickens lack of playing time is a bit unorthodox. Pickens has had some issues in the past, but hopefully what Tomlin is saying is true and there is no underlying story.
What do you think of Tomlin's explanation? Let us know in the comments below!
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