All through the Steelers’ 2022 season, the talk has been about the team’s deep passing game, and not in a good sense at all. Quarterback Mitch Trubisky came into Thursday night’s game against the Browns having completed just three of 10 passes of 20 or more air yards for 74 yards, no touchdowns, and no interceptions.
This did not make sense given the obvious vertical presence of rookie receiver George Pickens, who lit up the league in the preseason, but had caught just one deep pass on four targets through the first two regular-season games.
“I like to throw the ball down the field,” Trubisky said on Tuesday, as he prepared for this game. “Why I haven’t, given the certain looks especially early in the game, I couldn’t tell you exactly why. But we’re looking for that and I’m looking for that. I like to throw the ball down the field. I think every quarterback deep down in their heart likes to throw the ball as far as they can down the football field and watch their playmakers go up and get it. So, we’re looking for that and we’ve got to look for the right opportunity and right timing. It’s just having that aggressive mindset and coming down with those plays. We want to throw the ball down the yard, but we’ve got to be smart about it and it’s all about completing it.”
The Browns were coming off a comeback loss to the Jets in which they fell apart in a communication sense against deep passes. In 2022, Cleveland had allowed three completions of 20 or more air yards on six attempts for 172 yards, two touchdowns, no interceptions, and an opponent passer rating of 135.4.
At some point, Pittsburgh’s irresistible force would have to meet Cleveland’s quite moveable object.
It finally happened with 1:32 left in the first quarter, when Trubisky unloaded a deep ball to Pickens down the right sideline, and Pickens made an unbelievable one-handed catch with fellow rookie Martin Emerson trying to keep up.
🤫🤫🤫
📺 #PITvsCLE on @NFLonPrime pic.twitter.com/CHBCksr7Yf
— Pittsburgh Steelers (@steelers) September 23, 2022
The Steelers scored their first touchdown of the night three plays later on a Najee Harris five-yard run, and we’d say that the Steelers should not stop here with the deep stuff to Pickens.
