INGLEWOOD, Calif. -- A fourth-quarter offensive explosion pushed the Pittsburgh Steelers to a 24-17 win over the Los Angeles Rams for their second straight victory.
Another kind of explosion almost derailed them.
Knotted at 17 in the fourth quarter, the Steelers got the ball back after a suffocating three-and-out by the defense. On the first play of the ensuing drive, quarterback Kenny Pickett hit wide receiver George Pickens on a slant route for an 18-yard gain. Dragged down by his undershirt by defensive back Russ Yeast after picking up 12 yards after the catch, Pickens leapt up chirping. The second-year receiver leaned into Yeast, placing the top of his helmet to Yeast's as he got in the defensive back's face and unleashed a tirade of trash talk.
Without hesitation, an official threw a flag for taunting, reducing an 18-yard gain to just 3 yards after the spot foul.
The Steelers, who got a first down on the play despite the penalty, avoided compounding the error by finishing that drive with a 3-yard Najee Harris touchdown to take a 24-17 lead.
Pickens' taunting penalty was one of two flagged against the Steelers on Sunday, and while the Steelers escaped Los Angeles with a win, they lost the battle with their emotions -- something they can't afford to let snowball into a bigger issue as their team operates on a razor-thin margin of error.
"Obviously we got to clean up some things from a management of our emotions, but I would much rather say, 'Whoa' than 'Sic 'em,'" coach Mike Tomlin said after the win. "We got some guys that are competitors. They just got to compete in the appropriate and mature and professional way. We use it as a learning experience. It's good to learn while sitting at 4-2 as opposed to 3-3."
Pickens, who had five receptions for 107 yards for his first career back-to-back 100-yard games, wasn't the only Steelers receiver with a potentially costly taunting penalty. Needing a first down on the final drive to seal the win, Diontae Johnson, playing for the first time since sustaining a hamstring injury in Week 1, was flagged for holding a finger to his face mask in a shushing mime to cornerback Ahkello Witherspoon in the fourth quarter.
Witherspoon, a former Steelers cornerback, got called for defensive pass interference on a deep third-down pass intended for Johnson. The Steelers receiver shushed Witherspoon as he celebrated the flag, and an official standing nearby watching the interaction promptly threw a flag of his own.
"I didn't really do nothing, I just kind of went like this," Johnson said, holding a finger up to his lips. "Ahkello Witherspoon, we're cool. But the refs wouldn't know. It's just one of those situations I got to avoid. Just be smart."
A frustrated Johnson demonstratively reacted to the penalty, and Pickett quickly intervened to calm his receiver, putting an arm around him and leading him back toward the Steelers' huddle. The penalties offset, and the Steelers again sidestepped serious consequences for the penalty by narrowly picking up their final first down two plays later on a quarterback sneak to seal the win.
"Emotions are high," said Johnson, who had five catches for 79 yards. "You never know what can happen out there. Everybody wants to be the best out there and make those plays, and like I said, our emotions sometimes get the best of us, but that's not an excuse.
"That's just a matter of keeping your head and knowing how to handle the situation out there and just keep playing."
Pickens got a similar message from his teammates and coaches when he came to the sideline after his taunting penalty -- his second 15-yard penalty of the afternoon after being whistled for a blindside block that wiped out a 19-yard Johnson completion at the end of the first quarter.
Pickens said he noticed defenders playing him differently Sunday, purposefully trying to rattle him and goad him into making those costly mistakes.
Pickens has a history of being whistled for personal fouls, earning one in Week 1 against the 49ers for unnecessary roughness after making a 9-yard grab on third down late in the blowout loss, as well as last season for a late tackle on an onside kick attempt in a loss to the Bengals that earned him an ejection. Prior to his NFL career, Pickens had a reputation for playing with an edge at Georgia. He was ejected in a game against Georgia Tech for throwing punches on the field.
"I feel like, personally, just going out there, a game like this showed me they're kind of looking for me for try to mess up," Pickens said. "Guys are antagonizing me more, because today is the first day I've seen anything like that. Guys really just trying to get me out of the game or get under my skin deliberately. So all I can really say is just keep fighting hard. That's all you can do in football."
Pickens said he noticed Rams players pushing him to the ground and doing things that he said he knows he can't respond to. Three weeks earlier, Tomlin chided his players for not being physical enough in a loss to the Houston Texans, but Sunday against the Rams, they were plenty physical -- sometimes to their detriment. That's the image Tomlin wants his team to be built in, the one they need to manifest to compete in a bruising AFC North.
But for Pickens and the rest of the Steelers, it's about finding that perfect balance of playing with an edge and being fueled by opponents' gamesmanship without acting in a way that's detrimental to the team.
"It's tough," Pickett said. "You're walking a fine line there with not getting overboard, but that's what makes those guys great. That edge they play with. It's just tone it back when we need us to dial in and find a way to win. So those guys are smart players, man, they'll figure it out and we will help 'em through."