A word that has been thrown around a lot since the Pittsburgh Steelers lost handily to the Arizona Cardinals is “bleak.” That seems to surmise the feeling pretty well, as a once-easy schedule has proven to be a problem for the Steelers. Making matters worse, they have to turn around on short notice and take on another bad team in the New England Patriots on Thursday night at Acrisure Stadium. They will be doing so without a few key players.
Kenny Pickett is undergoing surgery to repair his injured ankle and will miss 2-4 weeks. Elandon Roberts’ exact injury is yet to be known, but it seems foolish to expect him to suit up on a short week even with the Steelers now down their three starting inside linebackers. Minkah Fitzpatrick’s hand is broken, and while he’s going to play, it is reasonable to expect a small dip in production. Even T.J. Watt left for a few snaps after tweaking his ankle.
Add all of that up, and you get a potential recipe for disaster for a team that needs just about any good news going into their Week 13 matchup against the Patriots. QUARTERBACK SITUATION Pickett has spent a lot of time this season on and on and off the injury report. He’s gutted through most injuries, but upon leaving the game and being seen on the sidelines wearing a walking boot, things weren’t thought to be good. They aren’t great; however, he was not lost for the year. That is big news.
Maybe you feel confident in Pickett. Maybe you don’t. But it has become apparent that Mitchell Trubisky is not the best option for a team that may have to lean on a backup quarterback more often than not. The former second-overall pick has been a near disaster in Pittsburgh. Trubisky takes more risk than Pickett, but most of those risks end up in turnovers. As a backup quarterback, you just can’t do that. Ball security and game management have to be the priorities, and Turbisky has proven to be inept at doing that.
