In this week’s “3-and-Out” article, we look at how injuries on defense and continued sub-par quarterback play doomed the Steelers in Indianapolis.

Running out of bodies

Professionally, I’m a history teacher. In my United States History II course we recently finished a lesson on World War I, where we learned that one of the primary reasons Germany was defeated by the Allies was the fact they simply ran out of bodies. The Germans lost more than six million young men to combat, exhausting their ability to continue fighting. That’s an ugly reality for a particularly ugly war.

Football is not war, and any parallels between the two are symbolic at best. In the case of the Steelers defense, however, the lesson of the German army strikes a familiar chord. Pittsburgh was already down their two starting inside linebackers heading into the Indianapolis game, as well as safety Keanu Neal. This had made them vulnerable against running backs and tight ends in the passing game in their losses to Arizona and New England. That vulnerability was exposed further when they lost their top three safeties against the Colts. Minkah Fitzpatrick and Damontae Kazee both exited in the first half — the former with a knee injury, the latter on an ejection for targeting — and Tristan Thompson was injured in the third quarter. This left Miles Killebrew as the only true safety for the remainder of the contest. With the safety and linebacker positions gutted, Indianapolis rushed for 170 yards while all three of quarterback Gardner Minshew’s touchdown passes targeted Pittsburgh’s interior coverage players.

On the first, running back Zach Moss beat Mykal Walker on a wheel route to score on 2nd-and-goal from the 16-yard line. Indy isolated Walker on the play by clearing out the left side of the field with crossing routes then bringing Moss out of the backfield into the left flat, where he beat Walker on a catch-and-run:

Zack Moss punches it through for six. #ProBowlVote

📺 NFLN pic.twitter.com/xGXi4hOLxq

— Indianapolis Colts (@Colts) December 16, 2023

Their second touchdown came on the popular Mesh concept, which features multiple receivers crossing each other in the middle of the field while the running back wheels up the near sideline. The Steelers failed to communicate properly on their assignments — Walker and Thompson appeared to play man coverage on the play, while Elandon Roberts and Joey Porter Jr. played zone — and receiver D.J. Montgomery popped wide open for the score.

Minshew’s third touchdown pass came when tight end Mo Allie-Cox beat Mark Robinson one-on-one on a corner route.

Indy’s use of RPOs caused the Steelers fits as well, as the backers and safeties were exploited by these second-level reads. By the fourth quarter, they had no idea what to expect. The back-seven played tentatively, fearful of being caught out of position if they committed too quickly to the run. This allowed the Colts to slam the ball at Pittsburgh in the latter stages of the contest. The Colts rushed for 127 of their 170 yards in the second half against an exasperated Steelers defense.

Pittsburgh has now given up five touchdown passes to running backs and tight ends the past three weeks. There’s no doubt the Bengals, Seahawks and Ravens — Pittsburgh’s final three opponents — will borrow from the blueprint established by the Cardinals, Patriots and Colts. For Pittsburgh to have any chance on defense the next three weeks, they must solidify their play in the middle of the field. That may be easier said than done with the bodies they have available. At some point, when the injuries continue to mount, the personnel just aren’t good enough.

For a video breakdown of how the Colts exploited Pittsburgh’s linebacking corps, check out this week’s “Call Sheet Breakdowns” on our SCN YouTube channel by clicking HERE. You can find links to that, and to all of my breakdowns, on my Twitter page @KTSmithFFSN.

Miserable Mitch

On the other side of the football, quarterback Mitchell Trubisky was benched in the fourth quarter in favor of Mason Rudolph. That tells you all you need to know about the state of the offense.

Trubisky completed 16 of 23 passes, which isn’t terrible, but as he often does, he turned the football over with two bad interceptions. Trubisky suffers from some of the same issues that have plagued Kenny Pickett — he doesn’t read the field fluidly; he bails early from the pocket, and he is often inaccurate — but the flaw that really leaps out is his footwork. Whether Trubisky is pressured or not, he often releases the ball without stepping into his throw, like a basketball player shooting fade away jumpers in the absence of defensive pressure. Trubisky relies on arm strength alone to locate the football. But his arm is not strong enough, nor his accuracy reliable enough, to overcome poor mechanics.

That flaw reared itself most noticeably on Trubisky’s second interception. It came in the fourth quarter on a play where he overthrew a wide-open George Pickens in the middle of the field. A completion there would have given Pittsburgh a first down inside the Indianapolis 30-yard line and a chance to make it a one-score game. Instead, the Colts drove for a field goal that put the game out of reach and ultimately led to the decision to bench Trubisky:

The Mitch Trubisky interception that sealed his fate against the #Colts. #Steelers pic.twitter.com/X2eBtmlwUW

— Rob Gregson (@NFL_Rob) December 17, 2023

Trubisky’s mechanics on the play were awful. Despite a clean pocket, he stepped left and fell away from his target, causing his elbow to drop and the ball to sail. That’s a problem I have with our high school quarterback, who is a 16-year-old junior. Trubisky is 29 and the former #2 overall pick in the draft. If this were an isolated incident it would be easy to explain as a one-off. But most of Trubisky’s throws are made from a poor platform, which is the product of bad footwork. We see Patrick Mahomes and Josh Allen throw from bad platforms, too, but they’re talented enough to get away with it. Trubisky is not. His mechanics are a clear reason for his continual subpar play. How has he been able to advance this far into his career without them being fixed?

While the player must be held accountable in this sense, so must his coaches. The inability of Pittsburgh’s quarterbacks to read the field well, to correct simple mechanical flaws or to develop better pocket presence is a condemnation of the coaching they’ve received. I am not absolving the players for their roles here. But with better coaching, it stands to reason we’d see better progress. While I have great respect for any coach who makes it to the NFL, it’s obvious that Pittsburgh’s offensive staff isn’t good enough for this level of football. The Steelers need to clean house this off-season and start over with new personnel if they want to give Pickett, or Trubisky, or whomever quarterbacks the team in 2024, a fighting chance.

“Bring out your dead!”

Monty Python fans surely remember the iconic scene in “The Search for the Holy Grail” where plague-ridden citizens of a medieval European village were encouraged to “bring out their dead” for collection. One man was dragged out despite not being dead. He implored to the locals, “I’m not dead yet,” only to be told “Yes you are.” That’s the Steelers right now. Not dead yet, despite everyone believing the opposite.

So which is it? Are the Steelers dead? Probably. But if we put on our most rose-colored glasses, it’s possible to forge a counter argument. It’s safe to say they need to win all three remaining games to make the playoffs, and even then, they’ll probably need some help. As miserable as the situation presently seems, all of those games are winnable. Don’t get me wrong — I’m not running to my local sports book to lay money on the Steelers in any of them. But next week they host a Bengals squad that is just as banged up as Pittsburgh. Then they finish the season on the road at reeling Seattle and at Baltimore in a game that may mean nothing to the Ravens. I’m not convinced the Steelers can beat any NFL team right now. But in a season where the illogical has become the norm, I’m not convinced they’re dead yet, either.

And Out…

If the Steelers do continue their slide, it won’t be the first time they’ve collapsed late in the season under Mike Tomlin. Tomlin’s famous “unleash hell in December” quote from 2009 hasn’t measured up to the reality. That season, they went from 6-2 to 9-7 and missed the playoffs. In 2018, the Steelers started 7-2-1 and finished 9-6-1, missing the playoffs. In 2019, they were 8-5, lost their last three games and again missed the playoffs. Two years later, they started 11-0 before losing four of their last five and being ousted by the Browns in the Wildcard round. Sadly, collapsing in December has become more of a tradition than rallying to make a run.