The Pittsburgh Steelers 2022 season seemed to be on the ropes heading into Week 6. They had lost their previous four games, and were set to face Tom Brady and the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. Playing Brady usually doesn't bode well if you are attempting to end a losing streak, and it seemed like things would be getting worse for the Steelers before they got better.
Instead, they somehow ended up pulling out a 20-18 victory over the Buccaneers in a shocking upset. Brady and the Bucs offense never really got off the ground, and the Steelers offense was able to do just enough on the other side of things to pull out a victory. Both the Baltimore Ravens and Cleveland Browns lost in the AFC North as well, so the Steelers aren't necessarily dead in the water just yet.
The Steelers upset over Tampa Bay was a team effort, but it's clear there were some players who had standout performances at the perfect time here. Let's take a look at three such players and examine how their efforts ultimately helped Pittsburgh prevail in one of the biggest upsets of the season.
3. James Pierre
On the Steelers depth chart, James Pierre is listed as the team's fifth option at cornerback. But with the Steelers secondary extremely shorthanded for this game (Ahkello Witherspoon, Cameron Sutton, Minkah Fitzpatrick, and Levi Wallace all were out for this contest) that forced Pierre into action for the second straight week.
Pittsburgh's battered secondary had a strong outing as a whole, but Pierre stood out among the group. Pierre spent a lot of time on Mike Evans, which isn't surprising considering he matches up well against him physically, and he kept Evans quiet for much of the afternoon. Evans had just four catches for 42 yards, which is very surprising considering how beat up the Steelers secondary was as a whole.
Pierre was making plays all day in the secondary, and he was a big reason why Brady and the passing game looked disjointed all day long. Pierre may take a backseat once the secondary gets healthy, but he certainly made a case for more playing time with this strong outing against Tampa Bay.
2. Chase Claypool
Chase Claypool had been a victim of the Steelers brutal passing game to open the season. He couldn't get any sort of connection going with either Mitchell Trubisky or Kenny Pickett under center, but then again, nobody really could. Entering the game, Claypool had just 16 catches for 129 yards on the season, which was fairly disappointing for the talented young wideout.
Then Claypool exploded for a seven catch, 96 yard performance against the Bucs vaunted defense, in which he also hauled in the eventual game-winning touchdown as well. Claypool made most of his big plays late in the game, and without him Pittsburgh probably doesn't win this game.
Chase Claypool's touchdown in the fourth was huge, but he also made a big 17-yard catch on third-and-15 on the Steelers game-ending drive. Claypool's best play of the game came just a few plays later when he made an incredible back shoulder grab on a low pass from Trubisky on third-and-11 for a 26-yard game. Claypool put the game to bed after scoring his first touchdown of the season, giving him some serious momentum heading into Week 7.
1. Mitchell Trubisky
There have been some very unlikely things that have happened early on in the 2022 season, but who could have predicted this? Mitchell Trubisky, who was benched in favor of Kenny Pickett after a horrible start to the season, comes on in relief for the injured rookie and leads his team to victory over Tom Brady? Even the most optimistic Steelers fan would have laughed at that proposition.
But that's exactly what happened in Week 6. Pickett was forced out of the game with a concussion, springing Trubisky into action. It was easily Trubisky's best outing for Pittsburgh (9/12, 144 YDS, 1 TD) and without his timely passing, Pittsburgh wouldn't have won this game. Whether it was his clutch game-winning touchdown, or the aforementioned throws to Claypool that helped seal the deal, Trubisky was the guy who made the biggest plays of the day to win the Steelers this game.
What the Steelers do at quarterback moving forward is going to be quite interesting. Pickett's concussion may force Trubisky to start next week against the Miami Dolphins anyways, but when both guys are healthy, head coach Mike Tomlin is going to have quite a decision to make here. Either way, Trubisky was huge for Pittsburgh in Week 6, and he may have re-ignited the Steelers quarterback competition in the most unexpected way possible.
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