Tim Benz: With George Pickens battling Patrick Surtain II, other Steelers receivers can’t be ignored in Denver
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Many observers of the Pittsburgh Steelers spent a healthy portion of the past six months fretting over the lack of wide receiver options aside from George Pickens.
Then the Steelers themselves spent most of the first 60 minutes of the season proving why those concerns were valid.
Pickens had a good day during the 18-10 win over the Atlanta Falcons. He caught six of seven targets for 85 yards and would’ve had 36 more if it weren’t for a sketchy offensive pass interference call.
However, the only other passes caught by wideouts were a 1-yarder by Van Jefferson and a 7-yarder by Calvin Austin.
Some of the circumstances didn’t exactly help the receiving corps. The Steelers ran 41 times. Backup quarterback Justin Fields only found out he was a candidate to start mid-Thursday.
Also, offensive coordinator Arthur Smith admitted this week that the team blatantly avoided throwing to the middle of the field.
“That was my respect to (Atlanta safety) Jessie Bates,” Smith said. “He’s arguably one of the top players in the league, and he wrecked Week 1 (against the Carolina Panthers) if you watched Week 1 last year. He (darn) near won it by himself. Two picks. Almost got a third. Forced a fumble late. And the way the game was going, we were able to stay ahead. It allowed us to not try to let him affect it.”
And, as Fields pointed out, a heavy target share for Pickens is never a bad thing — even if he’s being checked by a second-team All-Pro corner like A.J. Terrell Jr. last week, or Denver’s two-time Pro Bowler Patrick Surtain II this week.
“George is one of the top receivers in the league. At the end of the day, he’s going to get the ball,” Fields said. “But, the other receivers know that too — that they’re going to get the ball, as well. I think it’s important, spreading the love, for sure.”
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That better be the case, because Surtain is one of the best cornerbacks in football. So Pickens is going to need some help.
“The first couple of games, I feel like everybody is a work in progress,” Pickens said after Wednesday’s practice. “That was everybody’s first game. We’ve been working, coming together as a team, and making the plays go.”
Simply opening up the playbook to use the middle of the field more should aid in that regard, something tight end Pat Freiermuth suggests could happen Sunday in Colorado.
“I don’t want to give anything away game-plan wise, but … we’ll see what happens,” Freiermuth said with a smile.
“We just didn’t want to let Jessie wreck the game. He is so productive back there. He plays so instinctively. We were successful running the ball. We didn’t want to put anything in jeopardy, and our defense was balling out.”
Oh yeah. Freiermuth — the guy who just signed a $48.4 million contract. Getting him the ball on a few throws of consequence may not be a bad thing either. He caught four passes last week, but for just 27 yards.
Regardless of who gets the targets, it’s got to be someone besides just Pickens. His mano-a-mano battle with Surtain is going to be tough to win outright. So, if Surtain has Pickens exclusively, or if he gets double-teamed, Austin, Jefferson and Freiermuth are going to have to win one-on-one matchups elsewhere on the field.
As Denver Post reporter Parker Gabriel told us on Wednesday’s “Breakfast With Benz” podcast, Surtain doesn’t always travel with a wide receiver. But he did last week with DK Metcalf against Seattle. The Seahawks Pro Bowler ended up with only three catches for 29 yards. Keep in mind that the Seahawks have more threatening receiver options after Metcalf than the Steelers do after Pickens, such as Tyler Lockett and Jaxon Smith-Njigba.
“You prepare for all things, but most importantly you make sure you are tight in all areas so that — whatever they present — you will be ready,” Austin said.
Don’t blame Austin and Jefferson. They are who they are as players, and they are being over-slotted right now in an offense that’s still figuring itself out, with a guy who was the second-string QB to start the season.
This isn’t their fault. This is on the Steelers’ front office and coaching staff who traded Diontae Johnson without a clear plan to replace him.
Cornerback Donte Jackson came back from Carolina in that trade. He was really good in Week 1. But he can’t play both ways.
Can he?
Unless the answer to that question is, “Yes,” then Fields, Smith and Mike Tomlin have to make the most of what they have at the position and stop ignoring them.
And stop ignoring the middle of the field while they are at it as well. Maybe addressing one problem will help the other.
Given that Pickens will be slugging it out all day with Surtain, this might be a good week to find out.
Listen: This week’s fantasy sports podcast with Tim Benz and RotoWire’s Joe Bartel.