It was a successful afternoon for the Pittsburgh Steelers as they beat the Cincinnati Bengals Sunday afternoon, 44-38, though one talking point was about the antics of star wide receiver George Pickens. As Steelers quarterback Russell Wilson had a sensational performance with Pickens on the receiving end, head coach Mike Tomlin would send a message to the 23-year-old.
Pickens would get several unsportsmanlike conduct penalties Sunday, along with catching three passes for 74 yards along with a touchdown, which was the first offensive score of the game for Pittsburgh. Still, Tomlin would say that Pickens needs to “grow up” about the unnecessary penalties, according to team reporter for ESPN Brooke Pryor,
“He's just got to grow up man,” Tomlin said. “This emotional game, man, these divisional games are big. He got a target on his back because he's George, he understands that, but he's got to grow up. He's got to grow up in a hurry.”
A look at George Pickens' unsportsmanlike penalties in the Steelers win

One of the unsportsmanlike penalties for Pickens happened in the drive after his touchdown, where he made a play setting up the Steelers for another score. After making a productive catch, he would taunt the Bengals sidelines, which was enough to force the officials to throw the flag with four minutes and change left in the first quarter.
After that, the other unsportsmanlike penalty for Pickens came around the beginning of the third quarter, where after catching a 36-yard pass, he would make a gesture that seemed to be that of a gun. However, when speaking on that after the game to the media, the Georgia product said it was signaling a “first down” and that the referees thought otherwise.
“Yeah, they said they got the gesture wrong, you know what I mean? Thought it was something else. You can't hurt the team,” Pickens said. “I never intend to hurt the team, but he just thought the gesture was different.”
“Oh, I'm not sure,” Pickens said when asked about what the officials thought the gesture was. “I was doing a first down. He stated he thought something else.”
At any rate, the Steelers are 9-3, which puts them first in the AFC North as they face the Cleveland Browns next Sunday.