George Pickens is a man of intrigue.
The Pittsburgh Steelers’ top wideout is the latest link in a long chain of receivers drafted in the second round or later to have an outsized impact on the team’s offense. He’s been the team’s leading wideout each of the last two seasons, making Diontae Johnson expendable in the process. He’s proven equally capable of catching Kenny Pickett’s back-shoulder sideline throws or Russell Wilson’s moon balls.
He’s also a dynamic weirdo who occasionally disappears from plays only to emerge trying to hurdle defenders who are standing straight up or trying to fight a Cleveland Browns cornerback in the middle of a last-ditch Hail Mary.
This has made Pickens the NFL’s random event generator. On Sunday, with a chance to effectively scuttle the Cincinnati Bengals’ postseason hopes, he fired up that engine and had one of the most George Pickens games of all time.
First, Pickens stumbled coming out of his break. This allowed Cam Taylor-Britt to dispatch him to the turf with minimal effort before taking an interception back the other way for six points.
Startin' it off with some JUICE @CamTaylorBritt_ | #RuleTheJungle pic.twitter.com/Rj9JSdUKgv
— Cincinnati Bengals (@Bengals) December 1, 2024
Pickens made up for his mistake one drive later by taking a screen pass and showing off his run-after-catch ability for a 17-yard touchdown.
3⃣ 1⃣4⃣ for six!
Stream on NFL+: https://t.co/COxKRnr6Mc pic.twitter.com/CODBv7uWxE
— Pittsburgh Steelers (@steelers) December 1, 2024
On the next drive, Pickens showcased his RAC again with a slow-motion spin move to pick up an extra five yards and move the Steelers into Bengals territory. Then, he marched them right back with a 15-yard taunting penalty.
George Pickens nearly drops the ball, picks up the first, adds 5 extra yards with the world's slowest spin move on a 1-on-3 situation, then gets a 15-yard penalty for taunting the Bengals bench
perfect George Pickens play, no notes pic.twitter.com/X4y4SEcx0X
— Christian D'Andrea (@TrainIsland) December 1, 2024
That wound up not mattering as Wilson led Pittsburgh on a 70-yard touchdown drive anyway. Halftime came and went and Pickens continued his wildly characteristic game.
The good news? He caught a Wilson deep shot for a 36-yard gain to set Pittsburgh up in scoring position. The bad news? He made a finger-gun gesture, which is an automatic no-no for the officials, who tagged him for his second 15-yard unsportsmanlike conduct penalty of the game.
we're nearing "three pumps" levels of scrutiny for NFL finger guns
anyway, here's George Pickens *2nd* 15-yard unsportsmanlike conduct penalty.
we are not yet 33 minutes into this game pic.twitter.com/VOAguB7sSS
— Christian D'Andrea (@TrainIsland) December 1, 2024
Simulating a firearm didn’t meet the level of severity needed for a two-flag ejection, but it balanced the team’s top wideout on a razor’s edge the rest of the game. Wilson targeted Pickens a single time after his second flag, leading to an incompletion on a play that would have been called back for holding. That’s due in large part to the Steelers’ late lead and a run game that had ground down the Bengals all game.
In all, Pickens scored one touchdown for Pittsburgh and allowed a touchdown against in the first quarter. He had 74 receiving yards but gave 30 back via penalty. He taunted Cincinnati’s players and fans and proved himself worthy of all the trouble in a 44-38 victory.
It was a very George Pickens-y day.
