The Pittsburgh Steelers, led by a rejuvenated Russell Wilson at quarterback, improved to a somewhat surprising record of 6-2 after beating the New York Giants 26-18 on “Monday Night Football.”
In a game that looked like a lifeless battle of field goals with a score of 9-9 at halftime, the action finally began to pick up in the third quarter with Calvin Austin’s blistering 73-yard punt return for the touchdown.
Austin would deliver the goods once again early in the fourth quarter by way of a 29-yard touchdown catch, hauling in an absolute dime from Wilson.
However, wide receiver George Pickens, who had four receptions for 74 yards, still managed to find his way to center stage despite not seeing the end zone. More on that later.
First, however, check out this hilarious move pulled by the talented second-year wideout from Georgia:
Just based on the “off the top rope” caption alone, Pickens and his comical elbow-dropping leap seemed to get all those nostalgic WWE juices flowing for many NFL fans who were watching.
The only thing possibly up for debate here was whether Pickens was paying homage to “Macho Man” Randy Savage and his flying elbow off the top rope or The Rock and his signature “People’s Elbow.”
Despite the hilarious visual offered by Pickens, it served as a pretty smart and alert play, as he appeared to simply be avoiding having his leg or ankle rolled into by the tumbling duo of Giants linebacker Bobby Okereke—who was taking back a fumble recovery—and his rather large 315-pound teammate, Dan Moore Jr.
Now, did Pickens add a little extra sauce to that jumping elbow drop? Possibly. But that’s why seemingly everyone lucky enough to catch the play in real time was left laughing immediately following his actions.
Of course, it wouldn’t be fair to bring up Pickens’ name and not mention the controversial call that occurred in the end zone, where the rising star caught the pass and uniquely managed to get one foot down twice, raising a lot of questions among fans after the officiating crew ruled it as incomplete.
The unusual play even had Wilson wondering if the “same foot down twice” thing should become a rule, much in the way having an elbow or a knee down while remaining inbounds is rewarded.
