The Steelers failed to defeat the Patriots Sunday despite allowing just 17 points. Here is why it may be time to consider benching Mitch Trubisky.
The Steelers were once again bested by the Patriots Sunday 17-14, dropping their record against them to 3-9 under Tomlin. The Steelers were looking to show improvement on offense after a narrow victory against the Bengals, but instead, they were even less inspiring despite multiple chances to win the game with a late score.
Mitchell Trubisky once again failed to consistently move the offense. Despite going 8-15 on 3rd down, they only scored on three of their nine possessions. It was an all-around ugly day for the offense, but Trubisky played objectively poorly.
Steelers Trubisky is far too conservative
The biggest takeaway about how Trubisky performed can be summed up with one number: 5.1. That is the number of yards per attempt he averaged on both week 1 and this Sunday, an abysmal number for a starting QB. In fact, no qualified passer had a lower number last season. It’s only a two-game sample, but both games were just so similar that it’s hard to ignore.
Much of the blame can (and should) be laid at the feet of offensive coordinator Matt Canada, but it goes beyond that. Trubisky is a six-year NFL veteran with 52 career starts. Just because Canada calls for all these short passes doesn’t mean you can’t look for a better option farther down the field. He rarely even looked for guys five yards past the line of scrimmage most drives.
That brings me to a topic that is sure to be debated all across the NFL media landscape: is it already Kenny Pickett time?
Steelers Trubisky may lose his job
If you watched the game, I am sure you heard a certain player’s name being chanted in the second half. The “We want Kenny” chants were hard to ignore, and there is plenty of good reasons to want to see the Steelers 1st-round pick. Trubisky has failed to elevate the offense so far, and the offensive line hasn’t been quite as bad as expected from a pass-protection standpoint. Why not see if Pickett can give you a spark?
If you asked me last week about the idea, I would have preached having patience. After seeing the same exact problems appear again, however, my tune has changed. The whole point of starting Trubisky was to try and give the Steelers the best opportunity to compete. If he isn’t holding up his end of things, why continue to start him? That is a question we might eventually get answered, but for now, I expect Trubisky to remain the starter. His leash has to be feeling very tight right now, however.