PHOTO BY JARED WICKERHAM/PITTSBURGH STEELERS

This was supposed to be a three-game stretch in which we’d learn all we’d need to know about the Steelers.

They’d play the Eagles, Ravens and Chiefs in succession and we’d find out if they were a contender or a pretender.

Instead, it took just one game to confirm what’s been apparent all along.

If wide receiver George Pickens doesn’t play, they aren’t good enough.

We still don’t know how good the Steelers can be, but we know this much: If Pickens is unavailable, the offense grinds to a halt.

Not against Cleveland, but against the likes of Philadelphia, Baltimore and Kansas City? Against the type of teams the Steelers are destined to see in the postseason?

No Pickens, no chance.

Well, maybe not against the Ravens, because of the unique nature of the Pittsburgh-Baltimore rock-fight rivalry.

But against any other team that packs an offensive punch, the Steelers are going to have to be able to counterpunch. It can’t always be defense and turnovers and special teams splash.

And absent Pickens, the Steelers just don’t have the “counterpunch” club in their bag (the one they had on Dec. 1 in Cincinnati).

That’s been the suspicion ever since wide receiver Diontae Johnson was traded back in March, that they just wouldn’t have enough at the position in the event something happened to Pickens.

That’s why the Steelers invested a third-round pick (the 84th overall selection) in wide receiver Roman Wilson of Michigan (the return on that investment has been five offensive snaps).

That’s why seemingly every potentially available wide receiver with the right name recognition and resume was linked to the Steelers via reports/rumors/trade speculation/you name it, from Brandon Aiyuk to Davante Adams, in advance of the trade deadline on Nov. 5 (the Steelers instead wound up with Mike Williams, who has been targeted seven times and has caught five passes for 83 yards and a touchdown in six games).

What we saw last Sunday in Philadelphia wasn’t a one-off.

The five wide receivers dressed against the Eagles with Pickens injured (Williams, Calvin Austin III, Van Jefferson, Scottie Miller and Ben Skowronek) combined for eight catches for 97 yards against Philadelphia’s No. 1-ranked defense.

That would be a good day for Pickens on most days.

For an entire receiving corps it’s a fatal flaw.

The Steelers couldn’t consistently pass without Pickens in Philly.

And because they couldn’t pass, they couldn’t run, either.

And because they couldn’t pass or run, they couldn’t score points, possess the ball or, in the end, compete.

Yes, it was a one-score game late in the third quarter when Najee Harris fumbled at the Eagles’ 26-yard line.

But the more realistic snapshot of Eagles 27, Steelers 13 was the Eagles gaining possession at their 3 following punt with 10:29 left in the fourth quarter and never giving the ball back to the Steelers.

That’s actually more of a portrait than a snapshot, but either betrays a vivid picture.

The offense can’t possess the ball for 20:08, or the defense will get gassed.

And in addition to possessing it for much longer than one third of the game, the Steelers are going to have to score in the high-20s or the low-30s against the type of high-powered offenses they’ll see in the postseason.

The defense, as highly compensated and as well-peopled as it is, can only do so much against the better offenses.

And Russell Wilson and Arthur Smith, likewise, can only work so much quarterback/offensive coordinator magic without a legit WR1 catching passes.

That makes Pickens almost as indispensable a player as any the Steelers possess (he’s probably second to Wilson on that list).

Immaturity, volatility and all.

You might not know what you’re going to get from Pickens from an emotional standpoint from week to week, game to game, quarter to quarter or snap to snap.

But when he isn’t out there the Steelers can be fairly certain of what they don’t have.

Pickens will be out again on Saturday when the Steelers visit the Ravens.

The Chiefs are looming on Christmas Day, and the playoffs not long after that.

Get well soon.

Mike Prisuta is the sports anchor/reporter for Randy Baumann and the DVE Morning Show. He’s also the host of the Steelers Radio Network Pregame Show and the color analyst for Robert Morris University men’s hockey broadcasts.