PITTSBURGH — It’s hard to lose a game in the NFL when your defense creates five turnovers. The Steelers somehow did that three years ago in San Francisco, but they contributed to the cause by committing two turnovers of their own to give the 49ers extra chances to win the game.
The Steelers almost did it again in their season opener in Cincinnati, but this time, they didn’t have any turnovers, which head coach Mike Tomlin said was one of the main reasons his team was able to eke out a 23-20 overtime victory.
Steelers quarterback Mitch Trubisky became increasingly aware of the conservative play-calling and approach from Tomlin and offensive coordinator Matt Canada throughout the game, but he knows it’s his job going forward to make sure games like that are much less exciting.
“I want this offense to score points and be effective,” Trubisky said Wednesday morning. “When you see our defense getting that many turnovers, I know if we take care of the ball, we’re going to be in it until the end.
“We played a great team last week, and we’re going to have good opponents coming up, too. When our defense gets turnovers, we have to turn them into points. That’s my mindset. When we take the ball away, we have to turn them into touchdowns and not field goals.”
The Bengals turned the ball over on four of their first five possessions. Minkah Fitzpatrick returned an interception for a touchdown two minutes into the game, but the offense only scored 10 points off the other four turnovers. After the final two Cincinnati turnovers, the offense only managed to gain one first down and punted the ball back to the Bengals. On those two drives, they managed to run only 3:15 off the clock.
“I don’t think it was a mindset,” Trubisky said of the conservative play-calling. “I think it was just something that progressed throughout the game. When the defense is playing that well and they’re getting turnovers, you just want to take care of the football.
“But we have to have that killer mindset, an aggressive mentality to take teams out of the game and not allow them to keep it close. I was proud of the way we took care of the football, but you have to have that aggressive mentality to score points. It’s not just the calls. It has to be everybody on the field having the same mindset.”
The offense averaged just 3.4 yards per carry and 5.1 yards per receptions. The longest run was for 16 yards by receiver Chase Claypool, and the longest reception came from Zach Gentry, their blocking tight end.
The lack of splash plays had a reverberating effect on the offense, as the Bengals crowded the line of scrimmage as the game went along, knowing the Steelers either were hesitant to call those plays or would struggle to convert them if they did.
“I think we had a decent amount of deep balls,” Trubisky said. “We just have to hit them. If we hit them earlier, it opens up the intermediate and shorter routes, as well. You want to connect on those. Either they open up more of those or they open up other routes, and it opens up the running game, as well.”
The leading receiver against the Bengals was tight end Pat Freiermuth, who had five catches for 75 yards. Gentry was third with two catches for 40 yards. Other than Diontae Johnson’s 55 receiving yards, 25 of which came on his spectacular one-handed catch in overtime, the receivers had a quiet game.
Claypool managed only 18 receiving yards and rookie George Pickens, who looked like he could be a breakout player during the preseason, had one catch for three yards.
“I think timing, from my perspective, can be better, either getting it sooner or waiting for the plays to develop a little more, allowing the guys to be in the right spot at the right time,” Trubisky said. “But, overall, we just need to execute and make the plays.
“It’s different when you’re practicing in practice and then get into games. It’s faster, and you’re playing against a defense that’s playing you a little differently or maybe pressing a receiver a little differently. There are different looks, and we’ll continue to get our timing down in practice.”
The game Sunday afternoon at Acrisure Stadium is against an opponent Trubisky knows well. As the backup to Josh Allen in Buffalo last season, Trubisky prepared to face the Patriots three times. The Bills won two of those meetings, including a 47-17 rout in the playoffs.
One added benefit this week is Trubisky gets to pick the brain of assistant coach Brian Flores, who spent 11 seasons with the Patriots before spending the past three seasons as the head coach in Miami.
“Having coach Flo in our meetings and asking him about defenses and his perspective has been huge,” Trubisky said. “I’ve been talking to him throughout OTAs and training camp to get his perspective. What’s hard to cover? What I see from the quarterback perspective, with him being there, gives us good insight on what they may be talking about and planning for us. If we keep having a good work week, it’s going to be an advantage for us.”
