Just a few short weeks ago, NBC Sports’ Chris Simms was rather excited to see veteran quarterback Mitch Trubisky back under center for the Pittsburgh Steelers following the injury and subsequent surgery for second-year quarterback Kenny Pickett.
Two week later, Simms has seen enough.
Following the Steelers’ 30-13 loss to the Indianapolis Colts on the road Saturday in Week 15, dropping Pittsburgh to 7-7 on the season, Simms was rather critical of Trubisky. On the latest episode of his podcast “Chris Simms Unbuttoned” he stated that for a quarterback who has played as long as Trubisky has, he shouldn’t be making the type of mistakes that he did against the Colts.
“For a guy that’s played as much as he has, he still makes some throws and decisions where you’re just like, ‘What?’ I wanna say it was the one to [Julian Blackmon], that interception where I just wanna go like, ‘Yeah, how could you throw that?'” Simms said regarding Trubisky, who threw two interceptions in the loss. “You’ve played too long to do stuff like that.
“The Steelers are really reeling, and it feels like they’re kind of falling apart.”
Against the Colts, Trubisky completed 16-of-23 passes for just 169 yards. He had one touchdown pass — a 3-yarder to Diontae Johnson — and threw two interceptions.
The first interception of the night for Trubisky came on a shot play to George Pickens in the second quarter. The ball was a bit underthrown to Pickens, who was outjumped on the play by Colts safety Nick Cross, leading to the interception. Trubisky admitted after the game that Pickens took a different angle on the route than Trubisky was anticipating.
Then, in the second half Trubisky fired high over the middle on a pass intended for Pickens, leading to the ball sailing right into the arms of Colts safety Julian Blackmon for a crucial turnover. It was a classic Trubisky mistake that started with his awful mechanics in the pocket. Drifting away from pressure, off his back foot and inaccurate on the throw.
At this point in his career, Trubisky has played in 69 NFL games with 57 starts. He is who he is: an average quarterback with tantalizing physical traits but very inconsistent production coupled with erratic decision-making. There’s a reason he’s a backup quarterback.
Yes, the offensive scheme stinks in Pittsburgh, but Trubisky does himself no favors with some of the decisions and throws he makes. That was again the case against the Colts. It led to Trubisky being benched in the fourth quarter for Mason Rudolph, and it could see the veteran benched moving forward in Pittsburgh, too, as the season has all but slipped away for good.
