The Mitch Trubisky era in Pittsburgh is officially over. What we all saw coming after he was benched in Week 15 after a horrible loss to the Indianapolis Colts has finally happened, as the Steelers handed Trubisky his walking papers on Monday.

Trubisky, along with offensive lineman Chuks Okorafor and punter Pressley Harvin, were released on the first possible day after the Super Bowl. It looks as though the two sides mutually agreed to part ways.

Trubisky’s time in Pittsburgh was, well, anything but stellar. After not earning an extension from his rookie contract with his draft team, the Chicago Bears, Trubisky landed in Buffalo to back up star Josh Allen for a year.

He then signed with the Steelers ahead of the 2022 season, initially to be the starter.

Despite the end result, the logic at the time was sound. Trubisky had several years of experience by that point, and he could mentor incoming first round pick Kenny Pickett (who was drafted after Mitch signed) to help him out.

The plan (or hope) was that Trubisky would over-perform what was expected of him, and have Pickett learn the ropes in the NFL by watching Trubisky.

Unfortunately, the experiment went awfully, and Pickett was thrust into action during halftime in Week 4 of the 2022 season. Trubisky never earned the starter’s role back, except for when Pickett suffered injuries.

In hindsight, the contract was a waste of money, given the results, but it still made sense at the time. As for Mitch, I hope he lands on his feet somewhere; he seems like a genuinely good dude, it just didn’t work out. And I mean, really didn’t work out.

But as I have come to do for some extremely disliked athletes in Pittsburgh lore, I try to look at the good plays they made when they were here. I did something similar for Gunner Olszewski, who was cut mid-way through the season.

In the case of both players, their failures here weren’t for a lack of effort. In fact, in Trubisky’s case, he may have been trying too much. His play often looked like someone who wanted to put the team on his back and be the hero; he just didn’t quite have the skill set for it.

With that said, there are some positive Money Mitch Moments™, so here we go:

Season Opener Big Time Throws

Oddly enough, Gunner’s version of this started with this game as well. This game was bonkers; Pittsburgh stole the ball away from the Cincinnati Bengals five times, and yet they still nearly lost the game.

Had Minkah Fitzpatrick not blocked that extra point at the end of the game, the Bengals would have won despite Joe Burrow throwing four picks and losing the fumble.

But, before things got down to the wire, Mitch Trubisky threw a beautiful pass in the first quarter on a trick play. He handed the ball of to Najee Harris, who flipped it to Gunner Olszewski, who then tossed it back to Trubisky, who threw a perfect ball to Pat Freiermuth near the goal line.

In overtime of this game, Mitch threw a dime to Freiermuth once again as the Steelers were trying to drive down the field to kick a field goal and escape with a win.

On a free play (Cincy jumped offsides), Trubisky was forced out of the pocket, but managed to survive loong enough to throw against the grain and connect with his tight end, which went a long way towards a possible field goal to win.

It wasn’t a great game by him, but he did have some moments, which made the Steelers believe maybe he could keep this team rolling through 2022.

Off The Bench To Beat The Bucs

Unfortunately for Mitch, those moments did not continue. He was benched in Week 4 in favor of Kenny Pickett, but after Pickett was injured in his first career home start in Week 6, the Steelers were forced to turn back to the man they had just benched and hope for the best.

And Mitch delivered, perfectly.

After Pickett went down with what was later diagnosed as a concussion, Trubisky was inserted into the game midway through the third quarter. The Steelers had the lead at 13-12 but the offense was as sluggish as ever. Trubisky almost immediately delivered a 16-yard strike to Chase Claypool, and even though the drive stalled, there was a spark the offense could build off of.

Early in the fourth quarter, Trubisky stood in a collapsing pocket and threw a solid 14-yard pass to George Pickens to keep the drive alive. He was then able to take advantage of a scrambling (and overmanned) Tampa Bay defense, which sprang Connor Heyward for a 45-yard catch and run.

Two plays later, Trubisky delivered a touchdown pass to Claypool, to which the crowd roared in excitement.

However impressive that drive was though, it may be trumped by what he did to seal the game at the end. After the Buccaneers scored a touchdown of their own (but failed on a two point conversion), Trubisky had to kill enough clock so that Tom Brady could not get another crack at the ball.

The drive started out rough. On second down, center Mason Cole pitched a brutally low snap, which Trubisky dove to recover over ten yards behind him.

But, on a big time 3rd & 15, Trubisky found Claypool in stride to pick up a first down.

Trubisky did not wither in the face of adversity on this drive, even after Tampa’s Rakeem Nunez-Roches leaped into Trubisky’s head after he was already on the ground.

But instead of letting that get to him, on 3rd & 11 Trubisky scrambled and found Claypool once again, who had a 26-yard reception for another absolutely huge conversion.

Trubisky then put his running talents on display, and picked up one last first down to officialy seal the game for the Steelers, who had beaten Tom Brady.

Trubisky finished that game going 9/12 for 144 yards, one touchdown, and a 142.4 passer rating, his highest as a Steeler.

Take that, Rakeem’s nuts.

Carolina Casual

In terms of efficentcy, this was probably Trubisky’s best game as a Steeler. He went 17/22 for 179 yards. He didn’t have many standout plays in this game, but he was the kind of quarterback the Steelers were craving.

After Pickett went down with a second concussion against the Ravens the prior week, Trubisky stepped in again, and unlike against Tampa Bay, he threw three picks in a 16-14 loss.

Despite that, the Steelers stuck with him in Week 15 against the Carolina Panthers. And in this game, he rewarded that decision. His uncharacteristically steady play allowed a mediocre Steelers offense to put up 24 points in the win.

Like I said, there was nothing really flashy from him in this game, but I would like to point out this pass to George Pickens: