Steelers WR George Pickens caught 29 passes on 46 targets for 487 yards and three touchdowns in his first six games with Russell Wilson. He then missed three games due to injury before catching four passes for 50 yards in his final two games. He saw 13 goals from Wilson in those two games, with inefficiency becoming a hindrance to the offense. Last night he caught one pass on six targets for zero yards and three drops.

Viewers wonder if something is wrong. Is Pickens simply rusty after missing three games with a soft tissue injury? Does he just need to work on getting back on par with Wilson? Even former Steelers S Ryan Clark sees that something contributed to their poor relationship.

“Do you remember the optimism when Russell Wilson took over the quarterback position, when he could push the football down the field, when the running game turned into the play-action game?” Clark asked Scott Van Pelt on ESPN Steelers’ loss to the Bengals last night. “George Pickens seemed to be rising to the top wide receivers. George misses these three games. He’s been back for two years. There’s something wrong between the two of them, the quarterback and George Pickens.”

Pickens was putting up Pro Bowl numbers along with Wilson before his injury. Extrapolated over a full season, the first six games combined would have resulted in a record of 82-1,380-8. Instead, he finished the season with a 72-1,093-4 pace when playing all 17 games. Those aren’t the numbers the Steelers top-10 bucks want to bet on.

Now I have to say that George Pickens’ 1-for-6 day had very little to do with his connection to Russell Wilson. He dropped about three balls, one through contact, one too deep and one just bad. This has nothing to do with chemistry, but it is clearly true that “something is wrong,” as Clark said. But is it between the receiver and the quarterback or is the receiver just having trouble getting back on track?

“(George Pickens) didn’t take advantage of his opportunities today,” Clark said. “Then late in the game there’s a bit of up and down where we come under a bit of pressure and now Russell Wilson can’t hit it. What will that relationship be like this week? How are they going to find a way to socialize if they have to go to Baltimore?”

Whether or not there’s something wrong with their on-field connection, it might be fair to question the interpersonal dynamic between Pickens and Wilson this week after a rough patch. From what we hear, they seem to like each other quite well. In fact, Wilson was very encouraging and supportive of Pickens.

The bottom line is that the Steelers won’t do anything in the playoffs if they don’t get a lot more out of Russell Wilson and George Pickens. Whatever is hindering their ability to transfer football from one to the other, something needs to change, and quickly. But honestly, it may just come down to a playmaker having to make plays.