Big Ben Blasts George Pickens for Effort vs. Chiefs
Pittsburgh Steelers head coach Mike Tomlin revealed on Monday that George Pickens’ route running “had zero” to do with quarterback Russell Wilson’s crucial red zone interception in Wednesday’s 29-10 loss to the Kansas City Chiefs. Former Steelers quarterback Ben Roethlisberger disagrees with that assessment, however.
On his Footbahlin podcast, Roethlisberger ripped the third-year wideout for dogging it on his route.
“Basically, you’re trying to in-and-out the safeties and corners and then find the seam down the field. Issue number one is George Pickens didn’t run his route,” Roethlisberger said. “That’s issue number one. Because if he doesn’t run his route, the safety has no threat now.”
Roethlisberger admitted that he doesn’t know the exact play-call or coverage by Kansas City, but from his experience, George Pickens stopping on his route was “90 percent of the issue.”
Roethlisberger also criticized Russell Wilson for making an ill-advised pass.
“Now Russ has got to see that. He can’t just blindly throw a ball in there to Pickens, ” he said.
Tomlin’s statement tracks with what Chiefs safety Justin Reid had to say about the play. Reid said he was going to pick off Wilson’s ill-advised pass regardless of Pickens’ route on the backside.
“Woulda been the same result. You are correct that I was never concerned with backside WR to begin with,” Reid replied on X to Dan Orlovsky of ESPN.
Hall of Fame wide receiver Terrell Owens called out Pickens for running the wrong route on Wilson’s interception. Fellow Hall of Famer Shannon Sharpe also gave Pickens flak.
“Same on offense as well when you got #14 not running his routes causing INTs,” Owens wrote on X in response to a graphic of Cam Heyward’s quote saying, “When 10 guys do their job and one doesn’t, we are screwed.”
“Pickens is going to have to stop being so emotional on every play,” Sharpe said on the Nightcap podcast with former Cincinnati Bengals All-Pro wide receiver Chad Johnson. “Every play he doesn’t get the ball, like oh my goodness, oh Lord, have mercy. I know he’s a phenomenal talent, the difficulty of the catches that he makes on a consistent basis, but if he were to channel a lot of that energy, I don’t think he realize just how good he can be. I don’t think he realizes he got special abilities.
The first-quarter red zone interception didn’t lead to any Chiefs points — a three-and-out, in fact. It was still a missed opportunity at valuable Steelers points in Wednesday’s 29-10 loss to the defending Super Bowl champions.
Wilson was asked after the game if he was expecting Pickens — back from his hamstring ailment — to go deep and take Reid’s attention. Kansas City linebacker Drue Tranquill and safety Jaden Hicks were also in the vicinity of the pass, which was intended for tight end Pat Freiermuth.
“I think he was going to go vertical, but at the end of the day it can’t happen,” Wilson said. “It’s on me. I was trying to give Pat a chance. He’s done a good job for us down in the red zone, and they made a good play.”
The Steelers will have to count on Wilson as they try to get back on track. Pittsburgh has lost three consecutive games by at least 14 points for the first time since 1988. The Steelers have lost the turnover battle in the latter two during the skid.
“We just have to play cleaner,” Wilson said. “That’s going to be the first part. I think the second part is we’re going to have to study the film and see where we’re doing things really well. There’s some moments. We scored a touchdown, got called back. Those things happen in key situations. … I’m betting on our guys and who we are and how we’re going to respond.”
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