A bad year for the Patriots became a little brighter with a prime-time victory over the Steelers on Thursday night. To make it happen, coach Bill Belichick did something he’s been doing for decades.
He took away what the other team does best.
In this case, Belichick had one player he hoped to take away on each side of the ball for Pittsburgh.
“Try to neutralize two guys [T.J.] Watt and [George] Pickens,” Belichick said. “Both those guys obviously a big problem. Played competitively against them.”
As to Watt, it helped the cause when he took a Zeke Elliott knee to the face on the first play of the game. The blow required extra attention to Watt on the sideline, from an examination of his jaw to, eventually, a concussion evaluation in the medical tent to the application of a tinted visor.
It’s unclear why a tinted visor was used. We’re trying to get an answer to that question. The common-sense explanation is that the hit made him sensitive to light. Which points to a potential head injury.
As to Pickens, the fact that Belichick identified him as the player to neutralize further shows how poorly the Steelers are using the second-year receiver. He needs to have the ball in his hands. He needs to be involved in the offense. Rarely if ever does it appear that the Steelers design and implement plays aimed at putting the football in his hands.
For the most part, Pickens has avoided showing frustration during games. In the team’s two Thursday night games this season, he has. Against the Patriots, the broadcast mentioned that coach Mike Tomlin was speaking to a frustrated Pickens on the sideline.
After the game, quarterback Mitch Trubisky confirmed that, once again, George is getting upset.
“I try to talk to G on the sidelines,” Trubisky said. “Obviously he’s frustrated. We’re all frustrated. Game didn’t go down how we wanted it. Would like to get him the ball more, get him going. He’s a special talent, and once we figure that out — and just everyone has to manage their emotions and we got to drive in the same direction in order to be successful. But he cares, man. He cares. He shows it in different ways and those frustrations come out, but everyone is frustrated. I talked to him. Gave him some time. We’ll come back tomorrow and go back to work. That’s all I know how to do, go back to work.”
It’s easy to recite platitudes in situations like that. “Go back to work” and “gotta go to work” and “all we can do is work.” No one is saying the Steelers are lazy. The question is whether the work they’re doing is the right work.
The fact that Belichick pinpointed Pickens as the biggest problem on the Pittsburgh offense shows that, with the extra time the Steelers have before the Week 15 game at Indianapolis, the Steelers should work on figuring out how to get the ball to Pickens more often.
