CLEVELAND -- Opening possession of the fourth quarter. A one-point lead had just become a nine-point deficit. Division rival. Their house. Overgrown elf on the 50. Under-evolved humans barking like dogs.
And an overwhelming understanding that this, right here, was where it'd be won or lost.
The response from Mitch Trubisky and the offense?
Hold the nose with one hand, my friends, and press play with the other:
In order, that three-and-out saw:
1. A contemptible play call by Matt Canada -- pardon the redundancy -- to hand off to Najee Harris up the middle, only to and burn off 32 vital seconds, and remain the same, uh, 75 yards away from the now-necessary touchdown.
2. A soft Trubisky toss into triple-coverage that set the stage for a turkey-shoot triangulation on Chase Claypool.
3. A rocket thrown so high, so hard that Pat Freiermuth could've confused it with a military flyover.
And not long after another inevitable punt, another impotent possession would align with all the rest, and these Steelers would be beaten further down by the bleeping Browns, 29-17, Thursday night at FirstEnergy Stadium to fall to 1-2 on the season with ... wow, what hope that it'll change?
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No melodrama, I swear: What's that hope?
Is it the defense, which inspired almost all such hope after 11 takeaways in Cincinnati?
Maybe. For real. Sorry, but I'm not about to bury a group with that much talent, no matter how poorly this one went. Especially not with T.J. Watt, who accompanied the team here and took part in light exercising, expected to make a full recovery by the bye week in early November. To me, these guys look more gassed than anything, having been needed to play 100 snaps against the Bengals, then face a physical running game of the Patriots, then rest for three whole days before this:
That's Nick Chubb, icing this one in the final minute and, to a degree, doing what the man does. Of his 115 rushing yards, per NFL Next Gen Stats, 113 of them came after initial contact from one of the Steelers. He's one of the best in the business.
But go back up and watch it again. And take note of Cam Heyward, also one of the best in the business, basically being one-armed out of the lane. Which is decidedly not what that man does. He's worn out. Maybe wounded, judging by how gingerly he moved in the locker room afterward. And he had ample company among those employed on his side of the ball.
"No excuses," Cam would say when that subject was broached. "We were in the same situation as they were, and they got the job done."
Right. Minus that Cincinnati mess. It's safe to suggest, I'd say, that the long break between now and the next game, Oct. 2 against the Jets at Acrisure Stadium, could make much of the difference that's needed.
More hope?
How about the offensive line, which was supposed to be the singular undoing of this whole thing, according to no less an authority than ... um, me?
Well, in my face. This might've been the most cohesive, comprehensive performance by a Pittsburgh O-line in three years, rewinding all the way back to the next-to-last year of Maurkice Pouncey and company. Dan Moore, Kevin Dotson, Mason Cole, James Daniels and Chuks Okorafor kept Trubisky clean, they finally blew open too-big-to-ignore holes for Najee and Jaylen Warren in the running game, and they even showed some post-whistle scrappiness for the first time.
As Dotson told me later, "You're seeing it now. This is what we've been working toward."
That's hope beginning to be realized.
Same goes for Harris and Warren, who combined for 76 yards rushing in the first half, stunted after the intermission only by Canada's apparently having forgotten they existed, limiting them to five whole carries -- for 10 yards -- despite entering the third quarter with a one-point lead.
The wide receivers and tight ends also showed more on those occasions that Canada/Trubisky found ways to get them the ball. They made combat catches, they clawed for extra yards and, in George Pickens' case, they made quite possibly the greatest catch in the history of organized sport:
As in, any sport at any level in any era going back to the Ancient Greek Olympics.
"You saw the plays that were being made," as Freiermuth told me. "You saw what we can do."
Sure did.
Notice anyone I'm leaving out?
Mm-hm.
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Trubisky's a below-average quarterback, and I'm wording that so generously I might as well be a family member.
This isn't new, either: He was a below-average quarterback for four years in Chicago, he was a backup for one year in Buffalo, and he's been a below-average quarterback through three games in Pittsburgh.
Check that: A blatantly below-average quarterback.
In this game, even after a first half that saw him rely on no-huddle and rollouts for two successful drives, he'd end up about where he always does: 20 of 32 for 207 yards, no touchdowns, no picks, no chances taken. And even that's deceiving in that he was at 148 yards before the Steelers' penultimate drive, during which the Cleveland secondary backed miles off the line of scrimmage in a prevent formation, essentially handing Trubisky -- and I'm not kidding here -- the only two passes he'd complete over the middle of the field all night:
See those two lonesome green dots across the middle?
Those are the two Freiermuth catches on that penultimate drive. And if not for those, it'd be Sahara III for the season.
That's a joke. And as much as I'm willing to crush Canada on a weekly, if not daily basis, I can attest -- as can these players -- that the concepts, the routes, the open targets were there. Trubisky himself acknowledged it, saying of the concepts that he himself had publicly sought after the loss to the Patriots, “It was good, but I think we didn't connect on the ones that we needed to. We took some shots downfield and we just needed to come down with it. I can throw a better ball. They made some great catches, and we can make some more."
Really?
Diontae Johnson couldn't cling to a deep ball along the left sideline that would've been a good catch, but it's tough to classify that a drop. Claypool couldn't cling to that one above into triple-coverage, but it's tough to classify that as something beyond survival mode. And honestly, as long as we're taking inventory, Trubisky could consider himself lucky that Pickens added 36 yards to his total a catch no one could've assumed.
This wasn't about the O-line. This wasn't about the running backs. This wasn't about the pass-catchers. This wasn't even -- or at least not as much as usual -- about Canada.
Let's take opinion out of it, OK, and stick to simple numerology spanning all three of Trubisky's starts:
• He's averaging 5.5 yards per pass attempt, ranking dead last among the NFL's 32 quarterbacks with at least two starts. In 2021, no quarterback finished with an average lower than 6.0.
• He's now 5 of 19 on passes that travel 20-plus yards in the air past the line of scrimmage.
• His longest pass play covered 36 yards,.
• Although he won't throw deep or over the middle, he's still got only a 60.2% completion rate, ranking 22nd.
• Even in what often felt like an encouraging first half, he went 2 of 5 for a single yard when passing from the pocket and needed to scramble to the outside to go 7 of 8 for the other 108 yards, both per ESPN Stats & Info. That's hardly a sustainable approach.
• Contrary to rampant public misperception, he's hardly been under duress because of his O-line. Pro Football Reference counts him as having been pressured only 13 times through three games. He's been sacked five times, but three have been of his own doing, including running right into another in this game. The rest of the evening, by the way, he was hurried only twice.
• His receivers have a grand total of six drops, or two per game, per PFR. That's next to nothing, certainly not in contrast with his total of 21 bad throws.
• The team's average drive is just 23.7 yards, lowest in the league and lowest for the Steelers this entire century, per Sharp Football Analysis.
• The team's going three-and-out 32.1% of the time.
• The team went 1 for 9 on third downs in this game, and it's now 13 for 39 all season.
• The offense has scored four touchdowns in three games. ... Wait, let me try that again with gusto: THE OFFENSE HAS SCORED FOUR TOUCHDOWNS IN THREE GAMES. ... There, that's better. And if anyone needs more, that's four touchdowns on 34 drives, an 11.8% that's lower than the league's lowest in 2021, the Giants' 12.2%.
• Maybe my favorite in a twisted way: Pressley Harvin's now punted a league-high 17 times for 866 yards, dwarfing Trubisky's 569 passing yards, and I'm putting down solid cash on Harvin to keep this up.
Really want more?
Didn't think so. And neither should Mike Tomlin.
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“I’m not in that mindset," the head coach would reply to a postgame question regarding whether he'd consider a change at quarterback over this extended break. "I’m interested in reviewing this tape and looking at the totality of it and figuring out how we, collectively, get better."
Then, before letting it go, he raised his voice slightly to add, "I will answer that question: Definitively no.”
Definitively?
My goodness, why? And based on what?
I followed up immediately by asking Tomlin what he's seeing in Trubisky:
“I thought he made some plays," came the quick reply, followed by the predictable, "but we all collectively came up short. That’s how we measure performance. Winning is our business and we didn’t handle business. We don’t break that apart and look for the feel-good.”
I asked Trubisky if, in light of the two touchdowns in the first half, this could all be explained as inconsistency. He appeared to take mild exception to the term.
“Inconsistency, I would say, in the second half," he answered. "So, it was just inconsistent and not hitting those plays that we needed. We hit some in the first half, which is why we scored 14 points. Three points in the second half is not going to do it for us. I would say not putting two halves together would be inconsistent.”
OK.
Here's what I would say, for a second consecutive week: Kenny Pickett's this franchise's future, and there's no reason he shouldn't be the present.
Aside, of course, from Tomlin's ever-present stubbornness and/or penchant for anointing people to certain statuses, then refusing to change even in the face of heavy evidence. And that's clearly how this stage has been set. He made up his mind about Trubisky way back when he was signed, he didn't waver when Pickett stunned the Steelers by falling to them in the draft -- their own characterization of the first round, by the way -- and he's seized on every opportunity since to show everyone, by gosh, he was right and we're all wrong.
He'll rip the defense for "arm tackles and things of that nature" in failing to bring down Chubb. He'll cite Gunner Olszewski's fumble or Cam Sutton's dropped pick or the O-line going back to Jacksonville. But he won't touch Trubisky, who's become increasingly isolated when it comes to a hard, central focus for what's gone wrong.
I wouldn't paint Pickett as a savior, and I wouldn't predict he'd walk through that tunnel and wave some magic wand over the proceedings.
But I've seen plenty enough of both that he'll be a bunch better in the long term, and I'd ecstatically take that chance in the short term.
GETTY
George Pickens makes a one-handed catch in front of the Browns' Martin Emerson in the first half Thursday night in Cleveland.
THE ESSENTIALS
• Boxscore
• Live file
• Scoreboard
• Schedule
• Standings
• Statistics
THE INJURIES
Hurt in the game: CB Ahkello Witherspoon left the game immediately after a right hamstring injury in the end zone in the third quarter. He was declared out soon thereafter. Tomlin said there were no other injuries.
Healthy but inactive: QB Mason Rudolph, LG Kendrick Green, WR Steven Sims, DE Isaiahh Loudermilk, LB Mark Robinson, LB David Anenih.
THE SCHEDULE
Nine days off. A visit from the Other Jets is next, Oct. 2 at Acrisure Stadium. With Trubisky at quarterback.
THE MULTIMEDIA
THE CONTENT
Visit our team page for everything from our football staff of Chris Halicke, Eddie Provident, Ramon Foster and Matt Williamson.
