Steelers' Mitch Trubisky Critical Of Offense In Week 8: "We Had One Good Drive"

The Pittsburgh Steelers had a rough game against the Jacksonville Jaguars, in which Mitch Trubisky had to come in for an injured Kenny Pickett and try to lead his own second-half comeback. After the defense gave up a long touchdown, Trubisky was able to push the ball down field for a 75-yard touchdown drive in response. The Steelers could not muster any more offense after that. Whether Pickett or Trubisky plays in the future, they need to have more effective drives like that one, and Trubisky knows it. 

Steelers Showed What They Are Capable Of On Touchdown Drive

Trubisky was asked about the touchdown drive that he led in the third quarter. He talked about the possession and praised the offensive line, as well as George Pickens for his touchdown catch and run. 

"We had one good drive. We were executing well, we were able to stay balanced, and we went down and we finished in the end zone. George [Pickens] made a great play, we protected well that drive, and finished with six. It was a good drive, and those are the type of drives that we got to have more of, just to have a consistent offense."

That touchdown drive is the kind of drive that one would expect from a normal offense. The Steelers drive took eight plays and 75 yards, with the unit utilizing multiple facets of their attack. 

There were two good runs on the drive, with one of them being a scramble from Trubisky to set up a very manageable third down play. Diontae Johnson had a couple of nice catches, and Pickens capped it off with a 22-yard touchdown where he split two defenders to avoid the tackle. The Steelers regularly show their offensive potential late in games, and in this case, they were able to make nice, fluid plays throughout the whole drive. 

The Steelers couldn't get anything going offensively after that, with the only long drive being in garbage time, ending with an interception on a Hail Mary. Throughout the rest of the press conference, Trubisky was taking accountability for the bad plays and bad drives. Even though he's a backup, he still tries to hold himself to a high standard and to be a guy that the Steelers can lean on when they need to. He spoke about his first interception of the game, taking accountability for that as well. 

"Forcing a throw? Absolutely. I got to be smarter. I'm out there trying to win the game. We're not just trying to run the ball or check it down every time. That was a force on my part, but I wanted to come in and try to make plays for this offense. Maybe, on that instance, I was trying to do too much, and that's where you get in trouble, but I wanted to push the ball downfield, and that was the wrong thing to do on that play."

With a game coming up on Thursday night, Trubisky won't have time to fix anything mechanically. Besides walkthroughs, he will have to spend the next few days studying film and learning when to go for the home run ball and when to take the checkdown option. With uncertainty around Pickett's injury, Trubisky will have to prepare like he's going to be the starter.

Trubisky is not new to this either. In 2022, he had to try and lead the Steelers to a win after Pickett got hurt against the Baltimore Ravens. That was a very sloppy game on his part, but he was able to clean up his play and lead multiple long, effective drives against the Carolina Panthers. Hopefully, he can recreate what he did in that Panthers game if he has to play next week. 

What do you think about Trubisky's comments on the Steelers' offense? Let us know in the comments.

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