After continued struggles for the Pittsburgh Steelers on offense and defense, questions of possible solutions loom. Things appeared to be working in their favor in the opening game against the Cincinnati Bengals, but that win feels like it happened years ago. In the first three weeks of the season, the Steelers have only been able to tally four touchdowns on offense, while allowing their opponents a collective eight. The numbers on offense for offensive coordinator Matt Canada’s unit are dreadful and the seat for quarterback Mitch Trubisky is getting hotter by the day.
Steelers' Mitch Trubisky escapes the pocket against the Detroit Lions in Pittsburgh, PA. | Credit: Jordan Schofield/SteelerNation (@JSKO_PHOTO Twitter)
In today’s football environment, analysts and previous players alike dissect every negative component on every team. As Steelers fans have heard from various alumni throughout the preseason and now within the first month of the regular season, ex-Oakland Raiders quarterback, Rich Gannon gave his two cents towards the Steelers’ quarterback frustrations. Gannon joined Bruce Murray on The SiriusXM Blitz show after the Thursday night game to hash out the events that transpired in Cleveland. Gannon seemed to take notice to Trubisky’s play style, specifically in the loss to the Cleveland Browns, hinting he may be a bit scared on the field:
“When push comes to shove, he [Trubisky] trusts his ability to improvise more than he trusts his ability to sit in the pocket, read the defense, go through the progressions, and make a good accurate throw. He’d rather move around, slide to his right or slide to his left and make a big play on the move. That’s really what he defers to and it’s a problem. There’s times where the protection is good, he’s belly in the pocket," Gannon said."There’s times when his feet are an issue and it's affecting his anticipation, the timing, the accuracy of the throws. The other thing Bruce, and this may sound crazy, but I’ve played enough of the position to know, I think he’s being ultra conservative. I think he’s afraid to make the big mistake and get yanked from a game. And I will just tell you that I think his seat is getting hot in Pittsburgh.”
As we watched the offensive performance in the first three games, I’m sure we can agree it does look fairly conservative. We know Canada’s offensive scheme is fueled by short, efficient passes, but there were talks from Trubisky of wanting to be “more aggressive” in his throws heading into last week. But after a mere 25 percent of Trubisky’s passes traveled over 20 yards, only two of which were completed against the Browns. I’d argue this indicates some hesitancy from Trubisky.
Steelers' Mitch Trubisky's pass chart against the Cleveland Browns in Week 3. | Credit: NFL Next Gen Stats
Let’s do a quick comparison to this time last year. Similar to this year, the Steelers sat at a 1-2 record. After a tremendous opening day victory against the Buffalo Bills, they dropped the following two to the Las Vegas Raiders and Bengals. Ben Roethlisberger had thrown for 801 yards on 130 pass attempts with 3 touchdowns and 3 interceptions. In addition, Diontae Johnson had a 41-yard catch to his name and Chase Claypool had a 52-yard grab.
Looking at this year, Trubisky has thrown for 569 yards on 103 attempts with 2 touchdowns and a single interception. The longest completion so far this year was the incredible catch by rookie George Pickens for 36-yards. In second and third place, we see the pair of tight ends of Pat Freiermuth and Zach Gentry with a 31-yard catch and 32-yard catch-and-run, respectfully. It looks like the deep moon-shots down the field are just a memory of what was.
As the Steelers’ offense is built on efficiency, Mitch Trubisky can’t play scared on every possession.
Looking back to Gannon’s comments, I would have to agree with them, but there is a caveat. Looking at the numbers, Trubisky’s scream ‘conservative’ more than aggressive. There has been a plethora of plays where either he rushes out of the pocket before going through his progressions or he misses his reads, holds onto the ball too long, and takes a preventable sack.
Looking at the film from Week 2 against the New England Patriots, there was a pair of sacks that were a result of Trubisky being too afraid to throw the ball away. Simply put, this is what Gannon is referencing. Being a veteran in the league looking to reignite his career as a starting quarterback, it is clear he’s playing not to lose his job, as opposed to win the game. This would be expected and arguably acceptable as a QB2; not as the starter.
To end, I will simply state this; a rookie quarterback with an impressive preseason who features effective mobility would have no reason to be afraid of losing his job. Thus, the only pressure he’d feel would be to win the game and not to lose his spot on the depth chart.
Do you think Trubisky is playing scared? What do you think the biggest problem on offense is? Let us know in the comments below!
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