A couple of things: 1) GT7 and Horizon this year haven't exactly stemmed the tide for Sony in terms of Xbox being competative so I don't think you can say "thats enough for this year". They are good games don't get me wrong but from a numbers point of view I am sure Sony wants to have games in the pipeline that give consumers pause on buying the competition and holding out for their console. 2) I think there is still a possibility the game comes in 2022 this is a rumor after all and likely Sony is trying to hold out on making that call on the chance it does make 2022. I don't think anyone can say it was an "unrealistic date" given they never actually gave a date beyond saying it was now going to come in 2022 which I am sure felt realistic to the team when they delayed it the first time.
Well, they originally said 2021, that was the big fuck up. I don't think the 2022 date will be missed on purpose if it happens, I think they believed they were going to release in 2022 but the original 2021 date puts them in a bad position as multiple delays are never a good look.
Anyway, PS5 is sold out, Sony had a good output of games in 2020 and 2021, GT7 and Horizon were both critical and commercial successes, Elden Ring sold great on their platforms, they still have Forspoken this year... there was no pressure to lie but it looks likes Jimbo couldn't resist again (just like he couldn't resist trying to hide the fact that many of their big games were crossgen).
As always with Sony the core of the problem is a complete lack of proper communication. If the game was ever at risk of missing 2022 they should've come forward and let people know, simple as that. TLoU Faction is another example of bad communication, they cut the multiplayer from TLoU2 then say pretty much nothing for 2 years about what is going on... what is the point?