Mitch Trubisky vows to be aggressive, but that could hurt Steelers

With starting quarterback Kenny Pickett sidelined for the next few weeks, the Pittsburgh Steelers offense is now in the hands of veteran Mitch Trubisky.

On Tuesday, Trubisky talked about how he is going to approach leading the team's struggling offense and vowed that he is going to be aggressive in an effort to help it generate points. But if Trubisky gets too carried away with that technique, it could lead to major problems for the Steelers as a team.

That is something that has happened repeatedly over the past two years when Trubisky has had to play. 

More from Trubisky on his perspective, via the Steelers' website: 

“I think you can ask any quarterback that you want to be aggressive, but if you’re too safe with the football, you’re not going to move it,” Trubisky said. “So, you’ve got to know what you can do. And you always have got to take care of football. But sometimes you’ve just got to believe in yourself that you can make the throws to move the ball down the field and score points.”

Under Pickett, the Steelers' offense has been extremely conservative without taking many chances downfield. 

Pickett has been hesitant to use the middle of the field and tends to take more of the safe plays instead of pushing the ball downfield.

On one hand, it is a problem and has held the Steelers' offense back a little and kept them from scoring more. But it has also given them a chance on most weeks because they have almost eliminated giveaways under Pickett. For all of his flaws, he has been one of the league's best quarterbacks at protecting the football, and that has prevented the Steelers' opponents from getting short fields. It is a large reason why they generally win when Pickett plays.

Since the start of the 2022 season, the Steelers are 13-7 when Pickett starts the game and finishes it.

They are 2-7 in the games where he has not started or has had to leave early, including a 2-3 record in games started by Trubisky.

The big difference between the two quarterbacks is giveaways. Trubisky has thrown seven interceptions and fumbled once in his limited work the past two seasons, and it has played a big role in the team losing when he plays. He throws caution to the wind and takes some chances, but there is a big risk with that approach. It has not always given the Steelers a big reward. 

With the way their defense is playing and the way they are running the ball, they can get through the remainder of the schedule by protecting the ball and grinding out games. It will not work if the quarterback can not protect the football.