The 17-10 victory against the top-seeded Baltimore Ravens was a slog for the Pittsburgh Steelers on January 6. A cold, rainy night, the weather conditions were not conducive to a lot of deep pass attempts. The Ravens also made it a focal point of their defensive game plan to make sure wide receiver George Pickens didn’t beat them.

As a result, Pickens didn’t even have a target. He had just 1 touch — a 3-yard run in the second half.

But unlike previous weeks, Pickens didn’t grow frustrated with his lack of involvement on offense. Pickens possessed a positive demeanor that Steelers quarterback Mason Rudolph clearly noticed.

“They double covered him most of the game. I told him I’m very proud of the way he handled that,” Rudolph told the media in his postgame press conference. “I thought it was a very mature, team-first attitude. He was not whining or asking for the ball.

“He knew that schematically they were trying to take him away, and I think that’s a form of flattery from a defense that they know how explosive he was. But he blocked hard all day, and he was excited for his teammates. That was awesome to see.”

As Rudolph explained, Pickens contributed in other ways, including converting a third-down attempt on his 3-yard run.

Consequently, the Steelers won just their second game of the season when Pickens didn’t record at least 50 receiving yards.

Steelers Beat Ravens Without Mason Rudolph-George Pickens Connection
Getting the ball to Pickens was Pittsburgh’s recipe for success with Rudolph starting in Weeks 16 and 17. In those two games, Pickens posted 11 receptions for 326 yards and 2 touchdowns.

It was the first time in Pickens’ career where he recorded 100 receiving yards in back-to-back weeks.

But with the Ravens taking away Pickens, the Steelers offense had to go elsewhere in Week 18. Running back Najee Harris and wide receiver Diontae Johnson answered the call.

Johnson hauled in a 71-yard touchdown to begin the fourth quarter, which gave the Steelers’ the lead for good versus the Ravens. Harris scored the other touchdown and led the offense with 133 yards from scrimmage.

Unless the Steelers get the help they need to make the postseason, they won’t have the opportunity to build off this performance. But perhaps it’s something the team can take into next season.

All of the offensive playmakers complimented each other during the team’s three-game winning streak to end the 2023 regular season. Not everyone posted the statistics they likely wanted in each game, but they made plays with their opportunities.

Steelers’ Mike Tomlin Got It Right With Pickens
Just three weeks ago, Pickens received a lot of criticism for not blocking on a running play against the Indianapolis Colts. In that game, he also didn’t give much effort after a Mitch Trubisky interception.

Pickens then made things worse when he told the media he wasn’t blocking because he wanted to avoid an injury.

After those comments, media pundits and NFL insiders such as Peter King called for Tomlin to bench Pickens. But Tomlin stood by Pickens, keeping him in the lineup the following week.

“He is very much a work in progress. It is continual,” Tomlin told the media on December 20. “It’s not going to be one incident, or one meeting or one form of discipline that’s going to institute the type of change that we’re hunting to be quite honest with you. It is going to be continual.”

That decision may have been Tomlin’s best of the season.

Without Pickens, the Steelers don’t score 34 points against the Cincinnati Bengals on December 23. And who knows if Pickens displays the team-first attitude he did in Week 18 if he had been benched.

In summary, Tomlin stood by his 22-year-old receiver. Pickens then rewarded his coach with his team-first approach against the Ravens.