Steelers wide receiver George Pickens obviously took joy in the Jaguars' loss to the Titans in Week 18. The loss knocked the Jaguars from playoff contention while also punching Pittsburgh's ticket to the postseason.
After the Jaguars' loss, Pickens shared the Steelers' tweet that alluded to Jaguars safety Andrew Wingard's disrespect of the Terrible Towel following Jacksonville's Week 8 win in Pittsburgh. Pickens' post included the words "Hope defense," the term he used to describe the Jaguars' defense prior to the teams' Week 8 matchup.
#Steelers WR George Pickens on IG
— The Standard (@TheStandard412) January 7, 2024
😂😂😂😂😂 pic.twitter.com/XV7TqesGAL
The Jaguars' aren't the first team to fall victim to the Terrible Towel curse. T.J. Houshmandzadeh famously wiped his cleats with a Terrible Towel after a Bengals win over Pittsburgh during the 2005 season. Cincinnati lost to Pittsburgh in a playoff rematch, though, as the Steelers were on their way to becoming the first sixth seed to win the Super Bowl.
Three years later, Titans running back LenDale White stomped on Pittsburgh's fabled towel after the Titans stomped the Steelers in Week 16. But it was the Titans who were stomped out in the playoffs, while the Steelers would up winning the franchise's sixth Super Bowl.
Jacksonville was 6-2 after defeating Pittsburgh. The Jaguars improved to 8-3 before basically falling off a cliff during the season's final six weeks. The season's turning point appeared to be in Week 13, when the Jaguars lost to the Joe Burrow-less Bengals in a game that saw Trevor Lawrence leave early with an injury. Christian Kirk also sustained an injury in the loss that would sideline him for the rest of the season.
Lawrence was never the same after that game, and neither were the Jaguars, who got an early jump on the offseason after Sunday's loss in Nashville.
