It was another game that most fans who don't bleed black and yellow might've called "unwatchable" from the Pittsburgh Steelers on Sunday in Week 8. Despite playing at home, things spiraled exceptionally poorly for this team and the end result was a 20-10 loss to the Jacksonville Jaguars that felt (and looked) much worse than the final score.
Steelers quarterback Kenny Pickett exited the game late in the first half with a rib injury, making way for backup Mitch Trubisky. And while the Pittsburgh defense held its own to give the Steelers chances to cut the deficit or even possibly win, the offense was unable to take advantage of these opportunities and, by the end of the game, the defense showed cracks too.
All told, the Steelers are still 4-3 on the season, but the vibes coming out of this game are anything but high. Someone needs to be blamed for a performance like that, and we have some ideas where to point the finger.
3. Mitch Trubisky, QB
Of course, Mitch Trubisky isn't expected to come in as the backup after Pickett was injured and play better than the starter -- I get that.
At the same time, though, the benefit of having a veteran backup of Trubisky's ilk (or even Mason Rudolph, for that matter) is their supposed ability to be able to step in and deliver a steady, largely mistake-free performance that ultimately gives the offense a chance. And the former No. 2 overall pick did not do that in the slightest.
After coming into the game, Trubisky dropped back 29 times, resulting in a 15-of-27 passing performance while taking two sacks. But he threw for just 138 yards and, while he did toss the Steelers' only touchdown on the day to George Pickens, he also threw two interceptions -- though we can forgive him for the meaningless one on the game-ending Hail Mary attempt.
Make no mistake, the offense wasn't great with Pickett either (more on that in a bit), but Trubisky only exacerbated the problem with a costly turnover late in the game and general ineffectiveness once he came in. It really begs the question as to why the Steelers insist on him remaining the backup, even after an offseason with opportunities to find or pursue other options.
2. Damontae Kazee, DB
This might seem a bit out of left field considering that Damontae Kazee came up with a big defensive play for the Steelers defense in this game. With the Jags up 6-0 already and looking at first-and-goal deep in Pittsburgh territory, Kazee jumped a Calvin Ridley route in the end zone and picked off Trevor Lawrence.
However, even on that play, a mental error cost the Steelers somewhat -- despite the fact that they then drove 93 yards before settling for a field goal. Kazee, rather than going down or taking a knee in the end zone, tried to take the interception out, but was forced to step out of bounds at the 2-yard line, setting up a 98-yard field for the Pittsburgh offense everyone knows has been lackluster this season.
More than that, however, Kazee's over-aggressive play was costly for the Steelers defense when he wasn't making a play on the ball. Multiple times throughout this loss, the safety tried to make a play by anticipating or jumping a route, and got beat for a big play.
It happened early in the game against Ridley, but the worst example was doing so on the eventual 56-yard touchdown pass to Travis Etienne. The Steelers' defensive scheme calls for Kazee to be the safety blanket for Joey Porter Jr. in that spot and, instead, the safety hung his teammate out to dry by being too aggressive.
The Steelers were short-handed in the secondary for this game with Minkah Fitzpatrick and Levi Wallace out. Kazee had the chance to step up and deliver. Outside of his interception, though, he was a costly presence for the Pittsburgh defense.
1. Matt Canada, OC
Obviously, we're going to blame Matt Canada here.
Yes, the offense was dealt a tough blow when Pickett had to exit the game due to injury. But even before then, it's not like this unit was humming by any stretch of the imagination.
In the first half, the Steelers had just one drive that went for more than 25 yards -- and it was after the Kazee interception when they were unable to punch it in deep in Jacksonville territory, settling for a field goal ultimately after moving the ball 93 yards.
That also continued in the second half wherein the Steelers went 75 yards on the Trubisky-to-Pickens touchdown drive and then 57 yards in the waning minutes of regulation (a.k.a. garbage time), but failed to accrue more than 16 yards on any of the other four drives in that half.
The numbers around Canada's offense continue to be damning. Najee Harris and Jaylen Warren combined to average 2.67 yards per carry. Pickett was averaging 4.6 yards per attempt when he was in, which only improved to 5.1 when Trubisky entered the game. It's a dink-and-dunk offense that affects the entirety of the offense negatively.
Canada has to go, plain and simple. Maybe the Steelers have serious changes they must consider in terms of on-field personnel too, but it all trickles down from Canada's atrocious schematics and poor game-planning that we've seen on repeat like Groundhog's Day. And Week 8 was no exception.
