Watch: George Pickens Negates Big Play with Costly Penalty

INGLEWOOD, Calif. — George Pickens plays like a menace, and it showed up again on Sunday, but in the wrong way for the Steelers. Diontae Johnson got a pass and a ton of yards after the catch on the play, but safety Russ Yeast was in hot pursuit of Johnson as he tried to head for the pylon. Instead, Pickens came from the side and laid out Yeast on an illegal blindside block, knocking the ball from what would have been on the two-yard line to the 35-yard line. Pittsburgh ended up kicking a Chris Boswell field goal.

George Pickens just BLEW up this guy. Now it’s a penalty. Used to be a great play. Hines Ward would have loved it. pic.twitter.com/k0lXpSHqv4

— Andrew Fillipponi (@ThePoniExpress) October 22, 2023

George Pickens seemed irate after the play as Johnson and head coach Mike Tomlin came onto the field to talk to him about the play. It was a clear penalty, and the Steelers will have to go over that with Pickens, who is no stranger to this penalty. At this point, that is becoming a commonality and something that needs to be addressed.

Pickens is having a great season in his second year. And some think the offense is holding him back. So far, even with Johnson back in the lineup, the Rams are playing over toward Pickens’ side. That has left Johnson open and able to make some plays.

There’s no question that Pickens plays at a high level and could see more production in a better situation. Since entering the NFL, Pickens has the most receiving yards on the sideline in the NFL, and it’s not close. He has 327 receiving yards on those sideline targets since the start of 2022. The second nearest receiver is Stefon Diggs, with 198. That’s how vast the gap between the two players is, and it’s because of the route tree that Pickens has played. He’s run an absurd amount of go routes, with most of the other routes working off that being curls and comebacks.