Is George Pickens playing tonight vs. Ravens? Exploring the Steelers' WR's status for Wild Card Weekend

After beating George Pickens' Pittsburgh Steelers to the AFC North crown, the Baltimore Ravens will now face their divisional rival for the third time this season on Wild Card Weekend.

The Steelers couldn't hold home-field advantage in the wild-card round after they lost four in a row in the last stretch of the regular season. The Ravens, who have won four in a row, will host Baltimore at M&T Bank Stadium in the first round of the playoffs.

On Saturday, Pittsburgh will try to contain Baltimore's strong offense, but they also need to find a way to put points on the board. They will need their star receiver George Pickens to perform at his best in order to do that.

Exploring George Pickens' availability status for tonight's Wild Card game

George Pickens is not dealing with any injuries, as the Pittsburgh Steelers didn't include him in their injury reports this week. This indicates the receiver will take his usual WR1 role when his side takes on the Ravens at M&T Bank Stadium on Saturday night.

Pickens sustained a hamstring injury during practice in December 2024, which kept him out of the lineup for three games. He has, however, participated in two games since making his comeback in a Week 17 home game against the Kansas City Chiefs.

Those three games Pickens missed last month were the first he missed in his three-year career.

When the Steelers lost to the Ravens in Week 16, they were without Pickens, and their passing approach appeared to be out of rhythm without their best receiver in that game. The team will likely look to get him going early against Baltimore.

How has George Pickens performed this season?

George Pickens has not played well since he recovered from a hamstring injury he suffered ahead of Week 14. In his first game back, he only recorded three catches for 50 yards against the Kansas City Chiefs in Week 17. As if that wasn't bad enough, he looked even worse in the regular season finale against the Cincinnati Bengals.

The third-year receiver had a terrible day against the Bengals, with an unusual stat line of three drops, one reception and zero yards.

Pickens recorded 59 catches for 900 yards and three touchdowns in 14 regular season games, which is not good enough. Even after missing three games due to injury, a receiver of his caliber should have no trouble posting 1,000 yards.

If the Steelers want to have any possibility of winning their wild-card game against the Ravens on Saturday, Pickens must perform well.