PITTSBURGH (93.7 The Fan) – Don’t be that surprised the Steelers went back to Mitch Trubisky to start. They thought enough of him to initially sign him, named him the starter over their number one pick and believe in him again on Sunday.
If we take Mike Tomlin at his word, what we were seeing this week was not a competition between Trubisky and Mason Rudolph to begin this week. Just simply to get Rudolph ready in case. Outwardly, it didn’t appear Trubisky had an issue with it. Even though he said he didn’t know if he would be starting as of the final practice for the Panthers on Friday.
“Had a good week of practice, ready to bounce back,” Trubisky said. “My mindset is ready to go. If we take care of the football, we will move it. Be smart making decisions, if all guys just do their job and play together. I feel good about this week.”
While you can’t take the three interceptions away and they are a major reason why the Steelers lost to Baltimore, Trubisky did throw 276 yards. He had 14 completions for double-digit yards including a 42-yarder to George Pickens and a 37-yard pass to Diontae Johnson. These aren’t incredible numbers for many teams, but in comparison to the season overall, stratospheric for the 2022 Steelers offense.
“We were taking chances, taking shots, not being scared at times,” Johnson said. “Sometimes we don’t want to do those at certain moments because it hurt us. It shows that we are trying, trying to make plays down the field and put the ball in the end zone.”
“I think there's about six plays in there, the turnovers, and then a couple of third-down plays, that were ultimately the difference in the game,” said Steelers Offensive Coordinator Matt Canada. “Other than that, I think we did move the ball well. We ran the ball okay at times.”
“There were some positives, but obviously, you don't get to do that, right? You don't get to say these three third downs and these three turnovers, if we take those away… That’s just not how it works. But again, there are positives, there's some things going the right way. We have to eliminate those critical plays at critical times.”
“I thought we moved the ball fluidly continually,” Tomlin said. “That’s what you’d better have when you have a veteran backup like him. The reps that he misses during the course of the week is made up for by his cumulative experience and expertise, if you will. We felt that. We didn't feel any reduction in what we intended to do once Kenny went down, and I thought we continued to move the ball fluidly.”
“As I mentioned, we just didn't make enough plays, particularly when the field got short, we have to do a better job of taking care of the football.”
“Just got to make better decisions, got to protect the football,” Trubisky said. “Made some really good throws out there. We moved the ball up and down the field, but obviously I got to take care of the football especially down in the red zone so we can come away with points. I’m looking forward to bouncing back this week and getting that opportunity.”
Najee Harris said if everybody does their job offensively, they will come away with a win. They trust the leadership job to Mitch Trubisky.