It’s been a trying year for Steelers wide receiver George Pickens.

Now in his third NFL season, the former second round pick by Pittsburgh had racked up 850 receiving yards through 12 games and was on pace to hit a new career high.

Then, a surprise hamstring injury struck Pickens, sidelining him for three weeks and costing the Steelers their best weapon on offense. When he finally did return, he had a somewhat underwhelming game on Christmas Day against Kansas City, catching three passes on seven targets for 50 yards in the loss.

It was the third game in what was eventually a nasty four game slide for the Steelers, dropping them out of the AFC North’s pole position and into a low wild card spot.

With the final game of the season still to go, Pittsburgh’s fate was already somewhat sealed by the Ravens, who won earlier in the day, locking up the division win.

But, the Steelers still had something to play for. A win in the home finale against Cincinnati would have done three things:

• Stuck it to an AFC North rival by officially eliminating them from the postseason
• Secured the fifth seed in the AFC and a trip to Houston instead of Baltimore
• Given the Steelers some momentum heading into the postseason