Despite missed chances, Steelers QB Kenny Pickett determined to keep targeting George Pickens

When the third quarter ended Monday night at Lucas Oil Stadium, George Pickens’ confidence admittedly was shaken.

Although the Pittsburgh Steelers rookie receiver had added to his collection of memorable catches with a spinning 35-yard grab along the sideline, he was bothered by three other balls that didn’t end up in his grasp.

Factor in that the Steelers had allowed a 13-point lead to evaporate and were trailing by a point to the Indianapolis Colts entering the fourth quarter, and Pickens was taking the turn of events personally.

“I was getting frustrated because I never want to be the reason we lost,” Pickens said Wednesday. “I never want to have that. When I drop the ball, I’m telling myself, ‘All right, let’s get back to the normal routine.’ ”

Normalcy returned for Pickens on the first play of the fourth quarter. With the Steelers facing a third-and-9 and searching for their initial first down of the second half, quarterback Kenny Pickett looked again for Pickens. No matter that two plays earlier, Pickens couldn’t come down with a pass along the sideline, the ball hitting the ground as he landed while trying to make the outstretched catch.

“He’s a great player,” Pickett said. “I’m going to miss throws. Guys are going to miss passes. We’re going to rally behind each other and get right back to it. I told him I’m going to keep throwing him the football.”

This time, Pickens came up with the catch on a toss across the middle. The result was a 13-yard gain, plus 15 more yards tacked on when Pickett was knocked down by a late hit. It was the impetus for a 75-yard touchdown drive that gave the Steelers the lead for good in a 24-17 victory, the final points coming when Pickett and Pickens connected on a 2-point conversion.

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“He came up big on that third down, and he came up big on the 2-point conversion,” said Pickett, who had to scramble to the right side before finding Pickens in the corner of the end zone on the latter play. “If we continue to stick together throughout the season, we’ll start to see this thing shift more toward the way we want it to be.”

Which, for the Steelers, is a more consistent offense than the one that exited the locker room at halftime in each of the past two games. Against the Cincinnati Bengals, the Steelers didn’t get a first down until their fifth possession. Against the Colts, it didn’t happen until that first play of the final quarter.

“We weren’t executing at a high level,” Pickett said. “In a big-time moment, we came together and put together one of our best drives of the season, converting third downs, moving the ball really well, finishing in the red zone and adding a 2-point conversion to that.

“There were a lot of positives there.”

Pickens, who ranks third on the Steelers with 36 receptions and 510 receiving yards, finished with three catches for a team-high 57 yards against the Colts. Still, it was the passes he didn’t catch that warranted so much attention, perhaps because Pickens has made the difficult receptions seem routine throughout his initial NFL season.

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• On third-and-goal from the Colts 7 with 59 seconds left in the half, Pickens was alone running across the back of the end zone. Pickett’s pass tipped off Pickens’ fingertips and fell incomplete. The Steelers settled for a field goal that provided a 16-3 lead.

• On third-and-2 at the Steelers 15 with 3:09 left in the third quarter, Pickett threw a low pass over the middle. The ball hit off Pickens’ hands as he slid.

• Then there was the first down throw from Pickett near the end of the quarter. Pickens initially argued that he made the catch, but officials were quick to signal that he never maintained possession.

At one point, TV cameras showed Pickett and veteran wide receiver Diontae Johnson talking to Pickens on the sideline.

“I’m just trying to be that teammate, be there for him when he’s down and out and worried about what he could have done in that moment,” Johnson said. “It’s my job as a player and as a leader to step in and say it’s going to be all right. You’ll have situations like that. It’s how you respond. You can’t let one moment define you or take you out of your game.”

As evidenced the his 13-yard catch to open the fourth quarter and the 2-point conversion that came after Benny Snell’s go-ahead touchdown run, Pickens didn’t dwell on the negative for very long.

“It shows you what you can do,” Johnson said. “It’s me being there for him and allowing him to get back to himself and get back in his game. He was able to help us out because we needed him. We needed him to be locked in for those moments because he’s a big component of our offense.”