The Pittsburgh Steelers may have dodged a few bullets down the stretch in terms of playing opponents with quarterback concerns due to injury or performance, but that hasn’t stopped them from catching strays.
Indeed, they’ve taken a couple of direct hits recently with losses to a pair of two-win teams in just a five-day span. Now preparing to face an Indianapolis Colts team sporting a backup quarterback, they happen to be in the same boat with Mitch Trubisky starting for the injured Kenny Pickett. The Indianapolis Colts were dutifully respectful, of course.
“He’s been in this league, he’s been in a few systems,” LB Zaire Franklin told reporters on Tuesday, via transcript provided by the team’s communications department. “They trust him with the ball. They trust him to be the guy. We just have to take care of him”.
Trubisky did manage to put up 18 points for the Steelers on Thursday in his first start of the year, which sadly is pretty good by the team’s current standards. Unfortunately, they were already trailing by 18 for most of his scoring efforts, including just eight points in the second half.
Nobody in their right mind, however, would mistake his for a good performance. Sure, he made a few good throws, but also plenty of bad ones. Most concerning was his decision-making about where to go with the ball. That he doesn’t always put the ball where he wants it only exacerbated the issue. Still, Franklin was charitable all around.
“They still have dangerous weapons on the outside in (George) Pickens and Diontae (Johnson)”, he said, referring to the Steelers’ top two wide receivers. “Obviously, they have a great run game that he’ll be playing off of too. We just have to be able to stop that”.
As far as the run game goes, it was going pretty great before flatlining last week. Trubisky’s scrambles were the Steelers’ biggest asset there. Najee Harris ran for 29 yards on 12 carries while Jaylen Warren had 11 yards on seven. Forty yards on 19 attempts. Barely two yards per rush.
One can only hope the Steelers muster up the sort of effort that actually backs up the words of their opponents. Head coach Mike Tomlin sings the praises of his counterparts as though they were just victorious in the Super Bowl, but the Patriots and Arizona Cardinals made him look smart all along.
Franklin called the Steelers “a great opponent”, with “a great coach. I know they’ll be disciplined. I know they’ll be physical. Type of battle that you’re always looking forward to so I’m thankful for the challenge”. Let’s just hope he doesn’t come away disappointed that it wasn’t challenging enough.
