Flavell’s Five Thoughts: Steelers QB Situation Gets Worse
Ever since the Pittsburgh Steelers easily fell to the Arizona Cardinals, the adjective “bleak” has been bandied about a lot. That seems to encapsulate the sentiment rather nicely, since the Steelers have found difficulties with their once-easy schedule.
To make matters worse, they have to play the New England Patriots, another terrible club, at Acrisure Stadium on Thursday night with little notice. Notably, they won’t have a few important players with them.
Ever since the Pittsburgh Steelers easily fell to the Arizona Cardinals, the adjective “bleak” has been bandied about a lot. That seems to encapsulate the sentiment rather nicely, since the Steelers have found difficulties with their once-easy schedule.
To make matters worse, they have to play the New England Patriots, another terrible club, at Acrisure Stadium on Thursday night with little notice. Notably, they won’t have a few important players with them.
When you combine all of that, you have a potentially disastrous combination for a squad that is in desperate need of any positive news heading into their Week 13 meeting with the Patriots.
Quarterback Context
This season, Pickett has been on and off the injured report for a considerable amount of time. Although he had persevered through numerous injuries, things weren’t looking good when he left the game and was spotted on the sidelines with a walking boot. They’re not very good, but at least he wasn’t lost for the entire year. That’s significant news.
Perhaps you have faith in Pickett. Perhaps you don’t. However, it is now clear that Mitchell Trubisky is not the best choice for a team that would frequently need to rely on a backup quarterback.
The former Pittsburgh second-overall pick has been on the verge of collapse. Compared to Pickett, Trubisky takes more risks, but the majority of those risks result in turnovers. That’s just not what a backup quarterback can do. Turbisky has demonstrated his incompetence in handling game management and ball security, which ought to be the top objectives.
Though Mason Rudolph seems to be the most popular choice, is it truly the best one? He tied a Detroit Lions squad without a win in 2021, the last time we saw him on the pitch. He underthrew Ray-Ray McLoud by two yards on a very short touchdown pass, missing it.
While he may not be a quarterback who can completely transform the organisation, Pickett is still a better option than what the Steelers had available. It is not ideal to have your starting quarterback injured right before a short week. Trubisky will have little opportunity to play with the starting offence this week as he doesn’t receive many snaps with it during practice. There’s a chance for another unpleasant game on Thursday.
Over the years, the Steelers have been known to treat teams lightly; nevertheless, every club experiences this at least once a year. Tomlin has excelled in primetime, and the Steelers will play there on Thursday. Bill Belichick, the football coach with the second-longest tenure, will be the opponent for him. This may have been the biggest Thursday Night Football game of the season three years ago. For Al Michaels, this year is just another test to endure.
