Steelers WR George Pickens: Jaguars Defense Is ‘Kind of a Hope Defense’

The second-year wide receiver didn't have kind words for the Jaguars' secondary.

The Jacksonville Jaguars don't need any added motivation for Week 8 vs. the Pittsburgh Steelers, but they might have gotten some anyway. 

Speaking with local Pittsburgh media on Thursday, Steelers wide receiver George Pickens said the Jaguars' stingy pass defense, well, relies on hope. 

"I think their D-Line, they depend on their D-Line a lot. With their team, you know, having a lot of first round guys, that D-Line, that's what they depend on a lot and they kind of, you know, hope, you know what I mean? Hope the guys hold up long enough. It's kind of a hope defense," Pickens said. 

Steelers wideout George Pickens referred to the Jaguars as having a “hope defense” when it comes to stopping the pass, which uh, well, here he is… pic.twitter.com/wKXN9xDXHg

— Brian Batko (@BrianBatko) October 26, 2023

In fairness to Pickens, the question was a bit loaded considering the only metric the Jaguars' pass defense is anywhere near the bottom of the NFL over the last few weeks is by pure passing yards allowed per game, and that is a volume stat that doesn't tell the first page of any story.

Jaguars have seen teams attempt 150 passes on them in the last 3 weeks, by far an NFL high. The next closest team is at 127. The next is 107. Among 32 teams, they are No. 14 in completion % and No. 10 in YPA in that span. They are also No. 9 in EPA/Play allowed on dropbacks and No. 10 in success rate in that same span.

In short ... the Jaguars' pass-defense is nowhere near the NFL's worst, and any interpretation of the data that leads one to that conclusion is, well, off-base at best and woefully ignorant at worst.

Through seven weeks, the Jaguars have an NFL-best 16 takeaways, with the Jaguars' secondary account for 13 of them. 

"You know takeaways come in bunches and waves and you ride the wave a little bit. You just continue to emphasize it and guys are doing a great job of tackling the football or at least attacking the football," Jaguars head coach Doug Pederson said this week. 

"You see it week-in and week-out. Again, just emphasizing Pittsburgh and what they do, they do the same thing. They emphasize that. They’re being the same, tipped passes turn into interceptions and things of that nature. You hope it’s sustainable and you think you can do that for the course of the season, but again, you got to make a point to do it.”