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The Pittsburgh Steelers were served an ice cold dose of reality by the Baltimore Ravens in the Wild Card round. Pittsburgh fell to Baltimore 28-14 in Saturday’s matchup, marking the fifth straight time the Steelers were one-and-done in the playoffs. The team’s lack of success has naturally led to calls for change entering the offseason.
Wideout George Pickens finds himself on the hot seat after a report impugning his commitment to the team surfaced. The third-year receiver showed up late to a pivotal matchup against the Kansas City Chiefs on Christmas Day, according to ProFootballTalk. While head coach Mike Tomlin called on all players to arrive at least two hours before kickoff, Pickens rolled in an hour and 25 minutes before the game.
Pickens had missed the previous three games with a hamstring injury. He would make his return in Week 17 against the Chiefs and, despite being late, he faced no discipline from the team. He went on to contribute three catches for 50 scoreless yards in the Steelers 29-10 loss. It was Pittsburgh’s third straight defeat as the team crumpled under the pressure of a brutal 10-day schedule.
How will the Steelers handle George Pickens?
While a player running 35 minutes late to a game could be forgiven, there’s an accumulative effect when it comes to Pickens’ transgressions this season. Although he is unquestionably the Steelers’ most talented offensive player, his immaturity was on full display throughout the 2024 campaign.
Pickens was fined five times by the league this season, including two fines in Week 13 against the Cincinnati Bengals. After the game, Tomlin called on Pickens to grow up. The wideout responded by sitting out the next three games and showing up late in his return. The Steelers stumbled into the playoffs losing four straight games before getting knocked out of the tournament by the Ravens. The great Justin Fields experiment never materialized.
Pickens isn’t the only member of the organization who could find himself elsewhere in 2025. Pittsburgh hasn’t won a postseason game since 2016. And while no one in their right mind would argue that Tomlin is a bad coach, there is a growing sentiment that the Steelers need to move on. The situation has been compared to Andy Reid in Philadelphia – a great coach in need of a change of scenery.
However, it is unlikely that the Steelers will push Tomlin out. And so the cycle of being good enough to make the playoffs but not good enough to win in the playoffs will likely continue in Pittsburgh until the team lucks into a franchise quarterback or suffers a catastrophic season. The exact thing Tomlin is so good at preventing.
