MOVE, BENGALS, GET OUT THE WAY! Tomlin’s decision to play George Pickens pays off

AS THE STEELERS’ CALVIN AUSTIN III RUNS FOR A TOUCHDOWN, A BENGALS PLAYER, GERMAINE PRATT, IS KNOCKED OUT OF THE PLAY BY THE STEELERS’ JAYLEN WARREN. PITTSBURGH WON OVER CINCINNATI, 34-11, DEC. 23. (PHOTOS BY MARLON MARTIN)

There was a line in the movie, “Django Unchained.”

The plantation owner said this to Django, after being captured during an attempted escape. “Django… You got sand, Django. Boy’s got sand! I got no use for [people] with sand.”

In other words, asking the question: What gives you the nerve to challenge my full authority? I do not need a servant with “grit” who would ever dare to challenge me.

The Steelers had lost three games to three teams that were not locked and loaded but were more like unloaded and unlocked. But then on Saturday, Dec. 23, the Steelers went on to declaw the Bengals by the score of 34-11.  During that losing streak, the “yinzer” press spin doctors also demanded that Steelers Head Coach Mike Tomlin be traded, fired, sold, or all the above.

STEELERS QUARTERBACK MASON RUDOLPH SHINES IN THE BIG WIN.

Now during the last two games, all of the talking head “Spinners,” (and no, they were not “falling in love” with Mike Tomlin) were all foaming at the mouth as to why Tomlin did not bench the Steelers’ young star wide receiver George Pickens because Pickens was impatient and his so-called “yada, yada, yada based rhetoric” was causing a crater-like divide in the Steelers locker room.

It turns out that Pickens was 1000 percent right and the “yinzer” brigade was 2000 percent wrong. If Pickens had been a major part of the Steelers offense from the beginning of the season, it is a stone-cold fact that the Steelers would not have lost to the Arizona Cardinals and the New England Patriots and may have even defeated the playoff-contending Indy Colts.

Had Steelers owner Art Rooney II or Head Coach Mike Tomlin listened to many of the non-football playing, buffalo wing-eating, airwave-polluting squawkers and benched George Pickens because he dared to speak up against a Steelers offensive philosophy that was on life-support…? “Pickens… You got sand, Pickens. Boy’s got sand! ‘Yinzers’ got no use for players with sand.”  They even tried to put the value of the often-injured, skittish and scared “current starting” QB of the Steelers Kenny Pickett above George Pickens. 

STEELERS RECEIVER GEORGE PICKENS RACES FOR ONE OF HIS TWO TOUCHDOWNS IN THE BIG WIN OVER CINCINNATI, DEC. 23.

Remember the Steelers’ former NFL All-Pro wide receiver Antonio Brown? When he spoke up and defended himself, he ended up like a catfish stranded on the bank of the Allegheny River.

Remember the legendary NFL Hall-of-Fame running back Jim Brown? Brown retired at the peak of his NFL career. Why? Well, because Jim Brown not only had sand, Jim Brown was an entire beach.

Let us not forget the recently departed Steelers running back LeVeon Bell. Bell departed the Steelers in 2018. Both players were accused of putting sand in the shoes of former Steelers QB Ben Roethlisberger.  Roethlisberger purchased a brand new 18-wheeler and a private road so that he could run over both players as if they were speed bumps at 2 a.m. without being detected. Ben Roethlisberger had sand as well when it came to satisfying his needs.

Through all the questionable behavior exhibited by Ben Roethlisberger that caused harm to his head coach and his team, folks advocated less of a penalty for Roethlisberger for his alleged violations. However, George Pickens was advocating for more of an inclusive role to help his team win, but the talking heads continued to advocate that Pickens be benched to “send a message.” Had Mike Tomlin listened to the “bullies on the beach” that were kicking sand in the face of George Pickens and Steelers Head Coach Mike Tomlin, the Steelers would have lost the matchup with the Bengals unceremoniously, prematurely dashing their faint hope of a playoff run.

George Pickens was not complaining about being overworked and underpaid, Pickens was pleading for more work. Many of the “squawk-boxers” are ranting and raving about George Pickens not blocking and being nonchalant on a recent goal-line running play featuring Steelers running back Jaylen Warren.  The only blocking that I see some of the NFL scribes doing on game day is running interference on their way to the well-stocked press buffet.

The unchecked behavior and narcissism of Ben Roethlisberger dissected the morale and team spirit of the Steelers for many, many years without any repercussions. The Steelers cannot allow an unproven commodity like Kenny Pickett to repeat the behavior of arrogance without substance, especially when so far, he has displayed a questionable skill set that may not match the over-inflated expectations of a spoiled fan base.