The Pittsburgh Steelers managed to come from behind to earn a 26-19 victory over the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, moving to 4-2 and keeping pace with the rest of the AFC North. They did so without several players in their secondary and wide receiver rooms, something that has plagued them all season.
It would have been nice to have two recent second round picks that both were notable hits, but they were both playing a game in Green Bay on Sunday night instead. George Pickens and Joey Porter Jr. became teammates once again a few weeks ago when the Steelers sent Porter to the Dallas Cowboys, but they have failed to find success together just yet.
The Cowboys fell to 2-4 in Week 6, as the Packers handled them rather easily, 23-13. The final numbers for Pickens and Porter from this game don't look all that bad, but the stats didn't tell the whole story.
The Pittsburgh Steelers may wish they still had them, but the Cowboys are struggling even with George Pickens and Joey Porter Jr.
Pickens' final stat line looks totally acceptable: six receptions for 73 yards on 11 targets. The problem, however, is that 57 of those yards came in the fourth quarter when the game was largely over. CeeDee Lamb was once again dominating the target share, but he was also struggling to find success throughout the game.
The fact that it took garbage time for Pickens to get heavily involved is odd, to say the least, but it begs the question: is the lack of team success and the clear gap in usage between himself and Lamb starting to cause issues? He hasn't had any outbursts or any real bonehead moments yet, but if the losing continues or he isn't more involved when it matters, it's inevitable.
Porter's issues in this game were easier to quantify. He was great in coverage overall, not really giving up much of anything to Jordan Love and his dynamic duo of Christian Watson and Matthew Golden. However, his penalty issues reared their ugly head in this game.
He had two penalties, with the biggest one by far being a long pass interference on Packers receiver Bo Melton. He essentially forced Melton out of bounds on the play, which became the catalyst for a last-minute QB sneak for a touchdown by Jordan Love to end the first half.
Ultimately, did either Pickens or Porter lose the game for the Cowboys? No, but their addition of them clearly hasn't fixed the underlying issues with Dallas. Even if Pittsburgh is likely destined for another early playoff exit, it looks like the Cowboys won't even make the dance.
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