Lions fans, and some Lions players, will see a familar quarterback Sunday as Mitch Trubisky will start the preseason finale for the Steelers.
The Detroit Lions will not have their starting quarterback on the field Sunday against the Pittsburgh Steelers, as the risk of playing Jared Goff outweighs the reward. But while Tim Boyle gets the starting nod under center for Detroit and David Blough will also see a lot of action, Pittsburgh will have their nominal starter, Mitch Trubisky, starting the preseason finale.
Trubisky is trying to hold off rookie Kenny Pickett for the Steelers’ starting job, so that’s interesting. Beyond that, Steelers No. 3 quarterback Mason Rudolph lingers as a potentially available option for the Lions to upgrade their backup quarterback situation.
But Lions fans, and a few Lions players who played under Matt Patricia, surely remember Trubisky.
As the Bears’ quarterback, Mitch Trubisky had his way with the Lions’ defense at times
Trubisky spent last season with the Buffalo Bills as Josh Allen’s backup. But before that he of course played for the Chicago Bears, the team that drafted him, from 2017-2020.
Seven of Trubisky’s 50 starts for the Bears came against the Lions. He had a 4-3 record, with 15 touchdowns, four interceptions and a 106.3 passer rating. That’s his highest rating against any team he has played more than two games against. Three of those interceptions against Detroit came in one game during his rookie season, with three touchdowns passes and a passer rating over 104 in four of the other six.
In Week 10 of the 2018 season, Trubisky went 23-for-30 for a career-high 355 yards with a 148.6 passer rating against the Lions. A perfect passer rating in the NFL is 158.3.
Lions’ fans should be watching Rudolph to some degree during the second half of Sunday’s game, if only on the notion he may be a Lion by this time next week. But a familar face in Trubisky will be trying to lock down a starting job that doesn’t seem likely to be his for all that long anyway.