The Pittsburgh Steelers' week continues to go from bad to worse. Despite all the marked improvements their offense showed in their first game without Matt Canada as the team's chief brain trust on that end of the field, the Steelers struggled to score against the Arizona Cardinals of all teams. They suffered a 24-10 loss, and to make matters worse, in the middle of that game, they lost QB1 Kenny Pickett to an ankle injury that will require surgery.

According to Ian Rapoport of NFL Network, the Steelers quarterback will be undergoing surgery today, December 4, to help him recover from an ankle injury that has bothered him all year. Clearly, the pain has gotten to the point where Pickett cannot play to the best of his ability, requiring him to go under the knife to rectify the situation.

Per Rapoport, Kenny Pickett will miss the Steelers' Thursday night contest against the New England Patriots, a crucial game that could go a long way towards determining whether or not Pittsburgh makes the playoffs. But there is, at the very least, a silver lining to give Steelers fans some comfort heading into the stretch run.

The Steelers reportedly won't be putting Pickett on the injured reserve list, so that is a positive sign that the 25-year old quarterback won't be missing too much time. The surgery Pickett will be getting is what Rapoport called a “tightrope-type” surgery, a procedure that those with high ankle sprains undergo to aid in the recovery process.

There are still five games left in the Steelers' season, and at 7-5, they are still in a strong position to make the postseason. If the season ended today, they would be in as a wild card team, so all they need to do is maintain their current pace. The responsibility to helm the offense will fall on the shoulders of Mitch Trubisky, who came in to fill in Pickett's shoes during their defeat to the Cardinals this past week.

Trubisky had a solid enough game on Sunday, completing 11 of 17 passes for a total of 117 yards, with one of those completed passes going for a touchdown.