The Pittsburgh Steelers suffered a humiliating loss at home to the New England Patriots on Thursday night, dropping to 7-6 on the season and putting their playoff hopes squarely in doubt after falling from the fifth seed to the eighth seed in the AFC race. The Steelers started QB Mitch Trubisky for the first time this season after QB Kenny Pickett underwent tightrope surgery on the ankle he injured against the Cardinals last Sunday, putting out for a couple of weeks.
Trubisky had come on in relief of Pickett on three separate occasions this season, seeing action against the Houston Texans, Jacksonville Jaguars, and Arizona Cardinals with all three contests being Steelers losses. Trubisky had performed alright in relief of Pickett in those contests, tossing two touchdowns and two interceptions leading up to Thursday night. Against the Patriots, Trubisky completed 22-of-35 pass attempts (62.8%) for 190 yards and a touchdown with an interception while throwing in eight carries for 30 yards and a score on the ground as Pittsburgh’s leading rusher on the game. Going back through the tape, we get a better sense beyond the stats of Trubisky’s day at the office in what was a must-win game for the Steelers.
The Film
One of the things that Trubisky brings to the table with his skill set is his mobility, being able to scramble from the pocket and pick up yards on the ground with his legs. We saw that on the first offensive play of the game for Pittsburgh after Trubisky drops back to pass and doesn’t find an open receiver. The pressure starts to set in, forcing Trubisky to leave the pocket. Finding green grass to his right where he takes off, he angles to the sideline and manages to pick up the first down.
However, one of the negatives that come with Trubisky is his willingness to put the ball at risk, taking chances in coverage when he should live to fight another down. We see that on the interception thrown in this game after Trubisky drops back to pass and gets pressured by blitzing S Kyle Dugger. He chucks the football in the direction of TE Pat Freiermuth with three Patriots defenders in the vicinity. S Jabrill Peppers jumps the pass for the interception, running it back inside the Pittsburgh 15-yard line, putting New England’s offense in a great spot to put points on the board.
On the next possession, we see Trubisky again put the ball in harm’s way. He throws a pass low to WR Diontae Johnson, having the pass almost picked off by CB J.C. Jackson, who dives for the ball, but is unable to bring it in. Again, we see Trubisky throw while turning his shoulder away from the pass, throwing more off his back foot rather than stepping into his pass, leading to an inaccurate ball.
Trubisky was throwing off his back foot for most of the game, leading to off-target passes. However, his lone touchdown pass of the game came on a throw off his back foot as well, Trubisky feeling pressure from his right as he lofts a pass to the end zone to Johnson with Jackson in coverage. Johnson adjusts to the pass and runs under it, cradling it for the score to keep Pittsburgh in the game.
Trubisky got his second score of the game later in the fourth quarter before managing to get the two-point conversion to TE Pat Freiermuth to make it a three-point game with 11:44 left in the fourth quarter. Trubisky keeps the ball himself and runs to the left side A gap between LG Isaac Seumalo and C Mason Cole, punching it in for six points.
Still, the Steelers were plagued with lack of execution in the final minutes of the game, keeping them from completing the comeback. A lot of that falls on Trubisky’s shoulders. He was inaccurate throwing the football as well as not finding open receivers down the field. We see the latter here on this clip. Trubisky scrambles to his right once the pressure sets in, failing to see WR George Pickens break open over the middle of the field from the slot. Drifting to open grass at the bottom of the screen, Trubisky lofts up an uncatchable pass to Freiermuth down the right sideline.
Trubisky had a couple of other bad misses at the end of the game as well, sealing Pittsburgh’s fate. In the first clip we see Trubisky sail a pass well over the head of Freiermuth over the middle of the field, leaving his feet as he throws once he senses pressure. In the second clip, we see Trubisky sail the ball well outside the reach of Pickens, who has a step on his defender breaking toward the middle of the field, missing his intended target high and outside on the errant pass.
Conclusion
It was a poor overall performance for Trubisky, who looked scattershot throughout the contest, lacking accuracy as he displayed poor mechanics in the pocket as well as throwing on the run. He had a lack of confidence that you could see on his face throughout the game, looking more like a journeyman backup quarterback than the No. 2 overall pick in the 2017 NFL Draft and a quarterback with 56 career starts under his belt. Trubisky was under some pressure throughout the game, but not enough to look like the deer in the headlights he played like, throwing one interception. which likely could have been more.
Head coach Mike Tomlin mentioned on Monday that they would roll with Trubisky with Pickett ruled out of the game due to his experience and his status as a former starting quarterback before in the league. Trubisky may have both of those things but not to the level that Pittsburgh needs to trust him to play winning football. Chicago let him walk for a reason, and he lost the starting job last year to Pickett after looking uninspiring through three-and-a-half games of action.
With Pittsburgh having a long time off before its next game against the Indianapolis Colts, the question should be raised if Mason Rudolph would be a better fit for this team as a quarterback who can stretch the field and do a better job taking care of the football. That is something the Steelers need in the most desperate way as they cannot afford to turn the football over and try to come back from behind. We’ll see if Tomlin decides to give Trubisky another shot, and if that’s the case, he will need to play with much more poise and confidence next week if Pittsburgh wants to have a chance of winning against the Colts.
