Steelers' George Pickens Defends Aggressive On-Field Antics

The Pittsburgh Steelers  managed to secure a big victory over the Washington Commanders on Sunday. The game was tight the entire way and momentum shifted between the two sides on multiple occasions, but Pittsburgh won with a score of 28-27. The Steelers committed a lot of self-inflicted errors, including penalties and poor decisions, that kept the game close. A big factor in the Steelers walking away with a win was George Pickens, who made big catches throughout the contest.

Pickens continued to show that he has a strong connection with Russell Wilson during Pittsburgh's win over Washington. The two connected on five passes for 91 yards and a score. However, one of the most talked about plays involving Pickens was Wilson's first interceptions as a Steelers. Wilson was looking for Pickens deep, but the ball was a bit overthrown and intercepted by Jeremy Chinn. On the play Pickens and rookie defender Mike Sainristil got into fight which has been making the rounds on social media.

This fight was easily avoidable, but Pickens intentionally went after Sainristil after the two had gotten chippy earlier in the game. There were no flags on the play, but there is good chance the third-year wide receiver will be on the receiving end of a fine from the league office. Pickens was asked about the play during his post game press conference.

"Guy tried to get physical with me." Pickens said. "A lot of guys like to do that, so I got physical back."

The Pittsburgh receiver has been known to lose his temper at times, which was shown at the end of Pittsburgh's loss to the Dallas Cowboys earlier in the year when Pickens yanked on the face mask of a Dallas defender. He was fined in that instance, and he likely will be again.

There is another part of this play from Pickens that isn't being talked enough about, and that is the receiver having the awareness to tag the defender down who intercepted the pass. The play wasn't blown dead and Chinn returned the interception for 39 yards, but that was all negated after it was reviewed thanks to Pickens touching the defender while he was down on the ground.

The Commanders offense would have gotten the football on the Steelers' side of the field, but thanks to Pickens they started their drive at their own 26. Washington's drive only lasted four plays before they had to punt the ball back to Pittsburgh. This was a major factor in the victory as it happened late in the third quarter while the Steelers were trailing by a score of 27-21.

Steelers Receivers Came Up Big In Victory Over Washington Commanders

In addition to Pickens, Pittsburgh's newest addition at wide receiver also made a big play that contributed to the win. The Steelers acquired Mike Williams from the New York Jets at the trade deadline on November 5th, and the acquisition is already paying off. Williams played sparingly in the win as he gets acclimated to a new offense and a new team, but he came up with a big play as he hauled in a 32-yard touchdown from Wilson to take the lead with just over two minutes left in the game.

Some questioned the move to bring in Williams, especially since the Steelers had to give up a fifth-round pick which was thought to be an overpay. Williams barely played in his debut for Pittsburgh and made a huge impact, which could be telling of what is to come. Pickens and Williams have a chance to be a great duo for the offense, and fans got a glimpse of that on Sunday.