Steelers wide receiver George Pickens was visibly pleased with the Jaguars’ loss to the Titans in Week 18. The loss knocked the Jaguars out of the playoffs while punching Pittsburgh a ticket to the playoffs.
After the Jaguars’ loss, Pickens shared the Steelers’ tweet that alluded to Jaguars safety Andrew Wingard’s disrespect for the Terrible Towel after Jacksonville’s Week 8 win at Pittsburgh. Pickens’ message included the words “Hope Defense,” the term he used to describe the Jaguars’ defense ahead of the Week 8 matchup between the teams.
The Jaguars are not the first team to fall victim to the curse of the Terrible Towel. TJ Houshmandzadeh 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, when the Steelers were on the verge of becoming the first sixth seed to win the Super Bowl.
Three years later, Titans running back LenDale White stomped on Pittsburgh’s legendary towel after the Titans stomped on the Steelers in Week 16. But it was the Titans who were eliminated in the playoffs, while that the Steelers were going to win the franchise’s sixth Super Bowl.
Jacksonville was 6-2 after beating Pittsburgh. The Jaguars improved to 8-3 before falling off a cliff over the final six weeks of the season. The turning point of the season appeared to come in Week 13, when the Jaguars lost to the Joe Burrow-less Bengals in a game that saw Trevor Lawrence leave early due to injury. Christian Kirk also suffered an injury in the loss that would sideline him for the remainder of the season.
Lawrence was never the same after that game, and neither were the Jaguars, who took an early advantage in the offseason after Sunday’s loss at Nashville.
