George Pickens had the best game of his career against the Cincinnati Bengals, racking up 195 yards on four catches for two touchdowns. His performance is one of the biggest reasons for optimism for the team as they face a Seahawks team that has allowed many explosive plays throughout the season.
That has left a lot of analysts to predict a step back, though, amid some controversy that Pickens has become embroiled in throughout the season. But Maurice Jones-Drew believes that Pickens can sustain it, and not only can he do that, but he could do better against the Seahawks than he did a week ago.
“George Pickens put on a show last week, recording a career-high 195 receiving yards with two touchdowns against the Bengals. The young receiver dials up an encore performance one week later. With a playoff spot on the line, Mason Rudolph targets him 12 times, with Pickens hauling in 10 catches for 200 yards in another career day,” Jones-Drew predicted on NFL.com.
The 195 yards he put up is a new career high for Pickens, as is the two touchdowns. He is the first Steelers receiver to gain at least 195 yards in a game since Antonio Brown had 213 back into n Dec. 10, 2017 against the Baltimore Ravens. But it might be the resilience Pickens showed on Saturday that caught the eye of his teammates, including Robinson.
“That’s what this league is about,” Robinson said. “We were able to talk to him about certain things and it’s going to be a roller coaster in the NFL. At the end of the day, some guys don’t like roller coasters, they get dizzy, they throw up. But in this league, the best enjoy roller coasters. At the end of the day, this league will not give you a picture-perfect season. This is not going to be exactly how you imagined and envisioned. There will be ups and downs. You have to deal with adversity. But it’s how you handle that and bounce back. George showed exactly what he’s made of with this performance this late in the season. In a very meaningful game like this, he performs.”
If Pickens comes out against Seattle and puts up another 200 yards, his ascent into stardom is officially coming. That’s something that the Steelers have been waiting to cement into their team, and it certainly seems like that is beginning to manifest itself into something.