Pittsburgh Steelers: WR George Pickens takes a big shot at his critics

The Pittsburgh Steelers are on the brink of missing the playoffs after three consecutive losses against the Arizona Cardinals, the New England Patriots and the Indianapolis Colts. Even Ben Roethlisberger said it was the end of the Steeler Way.

Kenny Pickett wasn’t having a spectacular season whatsoever, but, after his ankle injury, things just got worse when Mitch Trubisky became the starter. The emergency level is so high that Mason Rudolph will take over.

The Steelers have no margin of error if they want to reach the playoffs in the NFL and then make a Super Bowl run. With a 7-7 record, their remaining rivals on the schedule are the Bengals, Seahawks and Ravens.

As it’s been a trend in the last few weeks, many star players on offense for Pittsburgh have been criticized after showing a lack of effort while blocking or helping their teammates. First, it was Diontae Johnson who didn’t fight for a fumble in Cincinnati. Now, George Pickens at Indianapolis.

Mike Tomlin is on the hot seat with the Steelers (Getty Images)

George Pickens explains lack of effort against the Colts

The controversy sparked during the first quarter of the game against the Colts when George Pickens stopped blocking Jaylon Jones and that prevented Jaylen Warren of scoring a touchdown. This was the wide receiver’s explanation mentioning Tank Dell’s injury with the Texans in a similar sequence.

“I was just trying to prevent the Tanks Dell situation. The same thing that happened to him. I ain’t want to get an injury. When you stay on the block too low, you can get ran up on very easily.”

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Ben Roethlisberger took a big shot at Mike Tomlin and the Pittsburgh Steelers

However, many fans and analysts saw this as another example of lack of effort on offense by the Pittsburgh Steelers. “All the people that’s questioning my effort don’t play football. They do what y’all the media do. Guys who ain’t never played a game, they got a job in doing media. They’re never going to be in the NFL. They’re just media guys.”