Mitch Trubisky played the hero earlier in Kenny Pickett's stead earlier this season. And, when the rookie went down with a concussion late in the first quarter Sunday afternoon at Acrisure Stadium, he had an opportunity to do it again and give the Steelers a much needed win to keep their slim playoff hopes alive.
However, three critical interceptions from the veteran quarterback wasted premium opportunities for much needed points in the 16-14 loss to the archrival Ravens, dropping Pittsburgh to 5-8 on the season.
"A disappointing outcome, but really nothing mystical about it. We didn't do the things necessary to secure victory," Mike Tomlin said after the game. "Particularly how these two teams come together and the nature of these match-ups, you know points are precious. We turned the ball over when we were in scoring territory a couple times, taking points off the board."
Pickett's exit from the game was a bit peculiar. He was slammed to the ground by Roquan Smith on the Steelers' fifth play of the game:
As you can see, Pickett's head hit the ground very hard, and he took a while to get up. Nevertheless, after a trip to the blue medical tent, Pickett threw a few tosses ton the sideline to loosen up the arm and took the field with the offense on the next series, not missing a play.
However, after the offense went three and out, Pickett went to the locker room afterward and was subsequently announced to be in the concussion protocol and ruled out.
"I think when he became symptomatic, he was pulled from the game and evaluated for a concussion," Tomlin said about the series of events that led to Pickett's departure from the game. "I don't know about the sequence or the details regarding the sequence."
Regardless, Trubisky was tasked with taking over the offense in Pickett's stead, just as he did when the Steelers defeated Tom Brady and the Buccaneers in Week 6.
And early on while trailing, 10-0, late in the first quarter, it looked as if Trubisky might pull off another strong performance in relief. After completing a crucial third-down pass to Pat Freiermuth, Trubisky found George Pickens deep down the field to set up the Steelers' first touchdown:
Not that Pickett had much of a chance to get the offense going, but Trubisky's aggressive play breathed life into the offense. And, it swung momentum in their favor. The defense rode that momentum on the very next series and stopped a fourth down attempt by the Ravens to get the ball back while keeping the deficit at 10-7.
Trubisky and the offense put together another drive that threatened to score. They mixed up pass and run plays, moving the ball without much pushback from Baltimore. The Ravens even aided the drive with two neutral zone infraction penalties.
Then, everything changed with one throw:
Trubisky locked onto Freiermuth, and despite the route taking longer to develop than originally intended, forced the pass to him.
"Within the timing of the play, I've just got to check it down and not force that," Trubisky said. "I stuck with him, probably could have done a better job with my eyes looking off."
To make matters worse for Trubisky, his former teammate in Chicago was the one to deal the death blow to the Steelers' drive.
"You know, I have a lot of respect for the guy. But he made a throw and he had to pay for it," Smith said. "It was a great rush by the defense. I was in the right place at the right time and made a play."
When plays like this happen once in a game, especially early on, they can be overcame. The defense held the Ravens to a field goal on the ensuing drive, keeping the game within reach at 13-7. Pittsburgh got the ball back with 1:03 left in the half and three timeouts, which was plenty of time to salvage some points before receiving the kickoff to start the second half.
Once again, Trubisky engineered a drive that led the team down the field without much pushback. Four straight completions to four different receivers covered 52 yards, putting Pittsburgh in field goal range. But, once again, Trubisky locked onto Freiermuth in the red zone and the Ravens read him like a book. This time, Patrick Queen made Trubisky pay:
This one's worse than the first. It's undoubtedly a great catch by Queen. But both he and Smith were sitting underneath with Chuck Clark over the top.
Even with the two picks, Trubisky still had a chance to do something while trailing, 13-7. The defense followed a failed first drive by the offense in the second half by forcing the Ravens to punt. Once again, the offense moved the ball down the field efficiently. After the game, Trubisky repeatedly said he wanted to be aggressive, and his play allowed the offense to dictate what they wanted to do when they had a lot of grass to work with.
Trubisky was remarkably efficient, and made play after play, regardless of what the Ravens threw his way:
But, once again, Trubisky's aggression didn't match his execution. Another promising drive wound up with a Trubisky pass falling into the arms of a Baltimore defender:
Before the snap of this pass, Trubisky saw the single-high safety and gave Diontae Johnson a look.
"I wanted to take a shot downfield to Diontae," Trubisky said. "I thought he did a good job going inside. He was getting behind him and stacked him. We ended up hitting it later in the fourth quarter going the opposite direction. I just threw it a little too far, and I've got to be better with my eyes. It looked like the free safety had a jump on it. That's why he got over the top there before Diontae did. Yeah, I wanted to go down the field, take a shot and was too aggressive, and could be better with my eyes."
He's right. Trubisky had a nearly identical look later in the game when the Steelers were trailing, 16-7, and had their backs against the wall. And that time, he threw a perfect pass without the safety getting a jump on the throw:
The 37-yard completion to Johnson set up the Steelers' second touchdown of the game, coming in enough time to pull within two and increase their chances to somehow pull out the win:
However, the Steelers' defense was unable to prevent the Ravens from gaining a first down. Baltimore ran two plays ahead of the two-minute warning, forcing Tomlin to burn his final two timeouts, then Gus Edwards drove the final nail in the coffin with a 6-yard run to convert a first down. Baltimore then burned the rest of the clock with three kneel downs, securing the 16-14 score.
An aggressive Trubisky gave the Steelers a great chance to win this game. Ahead of getting to the Baltimore 25-yard line, it was clear Trubisky wasn't the same timid quarterback we witnessed while he was the starter in the first three games of the season. He threw the ball downfield with a lot of conviction, and his 276 yards, 73.3 completion percentage and 9.2 yards per pass attempt display the production and efficiency the offense had with Trubisky under center.
However, he wasn't able to dial down the aggression when the field got shorter, and an opportunistic Ravens' defense didn't let him get away with it.
"We've got to come away with points, at least field goals," Trubisky said. "When you give up the football three times to a good team and a good defense, they're known for taking the ball away, and I've just got to be smarter with my decisions and not forcing it down there. Credit to them, and I just try to come in, do my job, and at times I was overly aggressive. I wanted to score in the red zone. I wanted to be aggressive. I think looking back at the film, once we look at it, I think I can be a lot better with my eyes and then be smart and know when to check it down. A learning experience for sure."
Surely, Trubisky's three interceptions weren't the only cause for the loss. The Ravens racked up 215 yards on the ground, even after Tyler Huntley -- who was playing in place of an injured Lamar Jackson -- was put into the concussion protocol by a violent-yet-legal hit by Minkah Fitzpatrick in the third quarter. Even after practice squad call-up Anthony Brown took over at quarterback for Baltimore, the Steelers' defense couldn't stop the run.
In addition, the Steelers failed to properly block Calais Campbell on a 40-yard field goal attempt by Chris Boswell that could have made it a 13-10 game early in the fourth quarter. That's more points left on the field, and Tomlin was sure to point those out as reasons for the loss after the game.
However, this is a game where every point matters so much more than other games. Points always come at a premium in this rivalry, and in a game where the Steelers lost by two points, they left six precious points on the field in the first half.
"Obviously I was overly aggressive at times, which showed up with the turnovers," Trubisky said. "I appreciate everybody battling all four quarters. A lot of stuff I can do better, but coming off the bench, just wanted to go in there, try to provide a spark. I thought we did a good job moving the ball, but I've got to protect the football and that's obvious."
Turning the ball over instead of putting points on the board is the catalyst for the loss. If you need more proof, look back to the Steelers' win over Huntley and the Ravens at the end of last season. Baltimore racked up a whopping 249 yards on the ground, but Huntley threw two interceptions and lost a fumble.
"You just can't turn the ball over, particularly in the nature of this matchup. Usually, the team that turns the ball over in the red area is the team that loses," Tomlin said. "They've turned it over some in the red area in recent matchups and we've won those games. We turned it over in the red area in this one, so we lost this one."
At 5-8, the Steelers aren't quite mathematically eliminated from playoff contention. However, it would take a miracle to somehow sneak in with a 9-8 record. The Steelers play the Panthers, Raiders, Ravens and Browns to close out the 2022 season, and they would need teams such as the Jets, Patriots and Chargers to lose at least two games the rest of the way while performing better than the Jaguars and Raiders, who are also 5-8.
One more loss also guarantees the first sub-.500 season under Tomlin and the first for the Steelers since 2003.
