Steelers Week 15 news: NFL Comeback Player of the Year sleeper and George Pickens' absence

The Pittsburgh Steelers' toughest stretch of games begins this week. As Mike Tomlin eloquently put in on Hard Knocks this week, "the road is narrowing." For the second time in three weeks, the Steelers will headline FOX’s late afternoon window for a matchup that will be the definitive barometer for Pittsburgh’s place in the hierarchy of contenders. 

There is a clear delineation between playoff-bound contenders and everyone else this season. The Chiefs, Bills, Lions, Eagles, Vikings, and Steelers occupy that rare air. How they rank as power players is a personal choice, but the Chiefs and Lions are who both conferences are chasing. There is a significant drop-off below the Eagles, Steelers, Vikings, and Bills.

Fortunately, the Steelers have an opportunity to bolster their credentials and remain within striking distance of the Chiefs by steamrolling through Week 15 when they play chicken with the Eagles who are also vying for the top seed in their respective conference. In order to do so, however, they’ll have to overcome tough odds.

George Pickens’ hamstring

On an inauspicious note, the Steelers enter Week 15 at a disadvantage. A.J. Brown’s beef with Jalen Hurts has garnered headlines, but at least he’s available. The Steelers passing attack will have to navigate their narrow road without Wilson’s most reliable downfield threat at the beginning of their most important juncture of the regular season. After tweaking his hamstring last week, Pickens was a late scratch from their Week 14 win over the Browns. On Tuesday, Mike Tomlin offered more background that explained the timeline of events that led to Pickens being sidelined. 

Since experiencing discomfort after last Thursday's practice, Pickens was limited for Friday’s practice before a plan was hatched to limit his snap count to "weighty downs." Ultimately, an MRI led to him being downgraded to out. 

Hamstring strains are a delicate injury. Once it happens, they can nag and are susceptible to setbacks if an athlete rushes back to action. While it initially appeared that Pickens’ strain wasn’t too serious, Tomlin’s comments give an impression that his absence would last a few weeks longer. Pittsburgh has been through this before. The season began with Wilson rehabbing a minor calf strain that dragged on and sidelined him for six weeks. Pickens’ lingering injury is the type of event that can either create a cataclysmic breakdown on one side of the ball or serve as a catalyst for another skill-position player to step up after. 

Pittsburgh opened the week as underdogs on the road, but Wilson will now be working with a receiver room that will once again need its whole to become greater than the sum of its parts. 

Steelers may have a sleeper in the Comeback Player of the Year race

The NFL’s Comeback Player of the Year award is typically given to a player who demonstrates perseverance in overcoming adversity in the form of not being in the NFL the previous year, overcoming a severe injury, or simply a poor performance. 

Fanduel’s current frontrunners are Joe Burrow, Anthony Richardson, and Sam Darnold, in that order. Meanwhile, Joe Burrow claimed it in 2021 after recovering from a season-ending ACL tear. Anthony Richardson is an ok player, but whether he’s done enough to earn accolades is debatable. He’s 32nd in passing yards and has thrown more interceptions than touchdowns. But in context, Sam Darnold makes more sense than them both. 

However, after Wilson carved up Cincy for 400 yards last week, Bill Simmons name-dropped Wilson as a sleeper candidate for the award on his podcast. This week, 93.7 The Fan in Pittsburgh’s Andrew Fillipponi co-signed that sentiment. 

Tracking Comeback Player of the Year odds is bordering on degenerate behavior, but I swear there’s a larger point coming. Wilson is a sexy choice despite being an unconventional option given the recent history of recipients. He’s not recovering from a devastating injury and he was solid last season before he was benched by Sean Payton. The most significant comeback he’s made is optics-wise after two years of being tagged as a phony, diva, and a has-been in Denver. The organization also attempted to pressure him to surrender his guarantees in the middle of a winning streak while the head coach sabotaged his confidence on the field.

Wilson also overcame adversity during the first half of the season when he was nearly Wally Pipp’d by Justin Fields while rehabbing an injury. Since Week 7, the Steelers have had the most explosive passing offense in the game, completing 25 percent of their passes for 20+ yards.

The sleeper pick is on the Steelers' roster but isn’t Russell Wilson. 

Cameron Phillip Heyward is tied for fifth when he should be a serious candidate while having an All-Pro season after recording a career-low two sacks in 2023. Yet, he somehow has the same odds as Damar Hamlin who already won it a year ago after being revived on the field in 2022. 

At 35, Heyward leads all defensive tackles in tackles and has logged eight tackles for loss, 17 quarterback hits, and eight pass deflections. According to PFF, he ranks second among defensive tackles in solo tackles, second in quarterback hits, and first in batted passes, at his position, and ranks second on the Steelers in sacks behind T.J. Watt. Heyward’s interior presence has helped power a defense that ranks fourth against the run.

The Comeback Player of the Year is usually a young man’s award, but the Steelers' two old heads should be what reverses that narrative.