Dawgs By Nature
AFC North loss hurts Steelers, Browns continue to play Big Brother
What is it about the Pittsburgh Steelers employing mouthy receivers?
After the Cleveland Browns defeated the Steelers on Thursday Night Football in a snow game, Pittsburgh wide receiver George Pickens was being interviewed in the visitor’s locker room after the contest and stated the Browns did not beat his team 24-19, it was the weather. Oh, and also the officials.
RELATED: STEELERS VS. BROWNS RECAP IN SNOWFEST
The Steelers were running a five-game win streak coming into the game although head coach Mike Tomlin had a 2-8 record all-time on Thursday games. Cleveland dominated the game building an 18-6 advantage until the fourth quarter when they relinquished the lead but was able to score a touchdown late to secure the win.
At kickoff, there were snow flurries with a temperature of 32 degrees. The snow was steady in the first half, but at halftime, the sky opened and began to really come down for the final two quarters.
Pickens took the opportunity to blame the weather conditions on why his team succumbed to their division foe. He told Brooke Pryor of ESPN:
“Conditions played a huge, huge part in today’s game. I don’t really think the Cleveland Browns are a good team at all. I think the conditions kind of saved them today.”
The weather certainly played a part. Anybody who watched the game in the warm confines of their home or a sports bar understands this. Anyone who was there in that snowy mess has their own testimony if they can get their lips unfrozen.
“The snow, the conditions were so bad. I don’t even think the QB could see sometimes. And when you got conditions like that, at the opponents’ home field, it kind of plays in their favor.”
That is every game that it rains, snows, has extreme heat, or extreme cold. So, how is that news for Pickens? And besides, didn’t the Browns play in the same weather?
It was not a good statistical night for Pickens who must have gone to the Antonio Brown School for Mouthy Receivers.
Pickens did come out strong when he was being covered by Cleveland cornerback Denzel Ward, a three-time Pro Bowler. Ward allowed Pickens to get several good gains including a third-and-six with 6:10 left in the first quarter in which he never even looked back at the ball and gained 31-yards. It would have been a batted pass or a pick if Ward had just looked back for the ball. Ward then allowed Pickens to snare another first-down pass for seven yards on the last play of the first stanza.
This prompted DC Jim Schwartz to place CB M.J. Emerson on the coverage of Pickens.
Pickens finished with four catches on seven targets for 48 yards, yet he gained 41 yards in the first quarter when Ward was covering him. Emerson shut him down for the remainder of the game.
The 48 yards is his...
