Steelers WR George Pickens makes excuses for loss to Browns on Thursday Night Football

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.

Photo by Lauren Leigh Bacho/Getty Images

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 third-lowest game production of the year as he had 26 yards against the Dallas Cowboys and 29 in the Denver Broncos contest.

So far this season, Pickens has 52 receptions for 776 yards and has scored just two touchdowns. Cleveland shut him out of the end zone. It makes sense that his favorite fruit after the game was sour grapes. Not to mention the division-leading Steelers, one of the AFC’s best teams, were defeated by the previously two-win Browns, one of the worst clubs.

Pickens also complained that the Hail Mary on the last play of the game there was interference from CB Greg Newsome, and that earlier in the game Emerson was all over him on a Justin Fields toss deep on a third down attempt.

“That’s what I’m saying. The conditions and away game refs.”

Away game refs? What exactly is that?

Does Pickens believe that the officials are all Browns fans and live in the area after tailgating with Cleveland fans before the game? The referees for every NFL contest are assigned by the NFL’s Officiating Department based on a variety of factors. The Browns, like the Steelers, get whatever officiating crew the league sends them.

As far as getting “a hometown advantage”, each referee’s performance is closely monitored and evaluated by this department. These evaluations significantly influence future assignments.

The Hail Mary play did have some drama. Pickens engaged in a visible altercation with Newsome during the pass attempt. Both players were locked up as the pass descended into the end zone which fell innocently incomplete.

You can see the Hail Mary here.

As the pass was in the air, Newsome could be seen at the top of the screen pushing Pickens out of the back of the end zone and out of harm’s way. Did he hold Pickens? Should that have been a pass interference call or perhaps a holding penalty? Perhaps it was Pickens who was holding onto Newsome and dragged him out of the end zone.

In this video, it is very clear Pickens has Newsome’s helmet in a headlock and then takes him out of the back of the end zone. Pickens took himself out of the game’s most crucial play on purpose.

As both Pickens and Newsome were leaving the end zone after the play was over, Pickens slung Newsome toward the stands as both players fell to the turf. Stadium personnel then intervened to hold back Pickens in an attempt to de-escalate as Steelers WR Mike Williams was seen coming over toward Pickens.

When asked in the visitor’s locker room what happened after the final play, Pickens responded with “nothing.”

Williams told the Pittsburgh Press-Gazette:

“I don’t know what was going on. I was looking for him, and then I seen him in the stands, so I just went over there to get him. I don’t know what was going on.”

Pickens is no stranger to confrontations. Against the Cowboys in Week 5, he grabbed the facemask of CB Jourdan Lewis and pulled him down after the final play. He was later fined. In Week 10 he had an altercation with CB Mike Sainristil of the Washington Commanders after a pass attempt to Pickens was intercepted instead that garnered another fine.

The Steelers will make the post-season this year while the Browns will be watching the playoffs in their recliners.

And even though there weren’t any playoff implications on the line, anytime Cleveland can beat Pittsburgh isn’t sour at all but completely sweet.