The Pittsburgh Steelers have crashed back to earth after starting the season looking like Super Bowl contenders. The Steelers’ loss to the Kansas City Chiefs on Christmas Day was the team’s third straight loss and dropped them to second place in the AFC North.
A common theme of the Steelers’ losing streak has been Russell Wilson’s inability to protect the football from turnovers. Wilson threw a red zone interception against the Chiefs.
At the time of the interception, many believed that the onus of the blame was on wide receiver George Pickens after he failed to run a route correctly and draw the Chiefs’ safety to his side of the field.
Now, Steelers head coach Mike Tomlin is clearing the air, according to one Steelers reporter.
“Mike Tomlin says George Pickens’ route running had ‘zero’ to do with Russell Wilson’s interception,” reported Nick Farabaugh on Monday.
Mike Tomlin says George Pickens' route running had 'zero' to do with Russell WIlson's interception.
— Nick Farabaugh (@FarabaughFB) December 30, 2024
Fans reacted to the news on social media.
“Mike Tomlin was the Antonio Brown ‘whisperer’ for years. He knows what he’s doing,” one fan wrote on Twitter.
“Did his route (whether he had the wrong play or was lazy) impact the TE being open? Yes. Did Russ absolutely have to throw it there and ignore the safety? No. Ultimately it’s on the QB to not make that mistake,” one fan added.
“That’s just not true. He can say whatever but if Pickens runs the route the safety at least has to consider Pickens. Dude got jammed and just stopped,” one fan added.
“He’s never called out Pickens route running even in the Cowboys game. He also said limiting his snaps in that game was meant to maximize Pickens. So sure lol. But he’s never going to call him out publicly, rightfully so,” wrote another fan.
“Good to know. Why is ANY 36YO QB still starting when they make rookie mistakes and are still bouncing passes in December?” someone else wanted to know.
It’ll be interesting to see if Wilson can clean things up moving forward.
