Following each game in the 2023 Pittsburgh Steelers’ season, I will highlight the event or string of events in the game that is the turning point. Not all turning points will be earth-shattering but are meant to give a unique look at how we arrived at the outcome of the game, one that may be hard to see during the live watch.
The Pittsburgh Steelers followed a similar pattern in Week Eight as they have for most of the season. The offense struggled to get things going for much of the first half. The defense allowed chunks but made enough plays and forced enough turnovers to keep the Steelers in the game. There was a point in the fourth quarter where a comeback seemed possible, but ultimately the Jacksonville Jaguars were able to close the game out behind a pair of fourth-quarter interceptions thrown by QB Mitch Trubisky.
The turning point of this game was the first interception of the two, a 2nd-and-3 play where Trubisky tried to force one deep to WR Allen Robinson II.
The drive right before that interception produced the Steelers’ lone touchdown of the game, capped by a 22-yard score to George Pickens, which cut the 14-point deficit in half. The defense held up its end of the deal, keeping the Jaguars out of field goal range, which would have made it a two-possession game with about 10 minutes left in the fourth quarter. The Jaguars were able to put together a 10-play drive. In the 2023 season, the Jaguars had scored on seven of their 11 drives that lasted 10 or more plays up to this point. They got dangerously close to field goal range on this drive against the Steelers, but a timely sack by OLB T.J. Watt moved them out of range.
Punting from the Pittsburgh 40-yard line, the Jaguars had an opportunity to make things very difficult pinning the punt within the 5- or 10-yard line, but the Steelers caught a break as it rolled into the end zone for a touchback. So the Steelers are down seven, on their own 20, fresh off the momentum of their lone touchdown drive and a defensive stop. Things felt very promising, and the Steelers’ weekly fourth-quarter catch-up was still very much in play.
The drive started with a Jacksonville defender jumping offsides, giving Trubisky a free shot down field. He didn’t end up taking the shot and got sacked. Obviously that sack was negated, but Trubisky clearly felt the need to start taking deep shots; he said as much in his postgame press conference. The free play would have been a great time to take that first shot. Still, it was 1st and 5, and RB Najee Harris gained two yards up the middle to make it 2nd and 3.
The clock wasn’t an issue at this point, and it was just a one-possession game, so there was not a great deal of urgency to force anything deep. That, unfortunately, is exactly what Trubisky did as he targeted Robinson deep in the middle of the field in the area of three Jaguars defenders. Andrew Wingard, who was filling in for the injured Andre Cisco, made the interception and the Steelers’ chances at a comeback were put to rest.
“I should have probably checked it down and hopefully move on from there,” Trubisky said in his postgame press conference on the Steelers’ website.
The fourth quarter has been QB Kenny Pickett’s time to shine this season, but with a rib injury sustained at the end of the first half the Steelers needed to rely on the next man up. Trubisky couldn’t quite replicate that fourth-quarter magic.
