That is needlessly harsh. This was a stunning victory over a team that might be better than the Dolphins, even. The Bengals aren’t the leading contender for the team to move to London for nothing, they bring something to the table! ( I know this argues facts not in evidence: I’m obviously merely assuming they bring something to the table)
Rudolph is a longer-lasting Tommy Maddox.
The initial analysis from the Cooler Talk guys post-game is that he was taking what the Bengals were giving him. He was looking upfield, as evidenced by the Johnson touchdown, but he checked down to the safer plays because they were working. And really, who could blame him? It was only his second start. Ben didn’t take over for Maddox and suddenly become the future Hall of Famer he is, it took a while. I like what I’m seeing, and as long as he continues to improve I’ll be happy. They really couldn’t ask for much more than 24/28 for 200+ and 2 TD with no turnovers. He looks light years better than Haskins and Murray, that’s for sure, and Pittsburgh is allegedly as bad as both of their respective teams.
It was smart to limit the length of Rudolph’s throws. That’s what most intelligent coaches do with inexperienced or game managing QB’s. When you look at the list of QB’s currently playing by “intended air yards” (the number of yards a pass travels in the air to its intended target), it’s guys like Teddy Bridgewater (5.5 air yards), Luke Falk (6.1 IAY), and, yes Mason Rudolph (6 IAY). Short, quick passes that don’t require a QB to process a ton of information are how you can still get wins with a backup level QB.
Playing the Bengals also helps with the “getting wins” thing.
Well, we weren’t losing for almost 8 minutes.
Why, oh why are Pittsburgh athletes so cursed? 
Not sure Pitttsburgh athletes are any more or less cursed than those of any other city. Unless you mean cursed as in damned by those not well disposed towards them, and I think Brady has all of the NFL beat.
They’re still fighting. And currently winning.
That shot from Thomas in the NFL in 2019 is a penalty, ejection, fine, and suspension. But no flag. That’s a joke.
He was flagged for roughing the passer. And that was the appropriate action. This wasn’t some Burfect stuff. The point of contact looked unintentional to me. Bad luck in a physical game. What happened right before the knockout, however, was incredibly encouraging. That was an NFL quarterback making an NFL play: shades of Ben.
Valiant effort of the Steelers. We were in it, at times dominant, until the end, with our 3rd QB
Hodges looked really good.
Yeah, he did. And the defense looked great. The initial offensive buffoonery and the last fumble killed them.
Terry Bradshaw was the antichrist.
Cursed in what way? Getting injured?
At least the Steelers got a point for the overtime loss.
The defense is taking it to the Bolts tonight, and the offense, led by the indomitable Duck Hodges, is doing well. He’s making good decisions and taking care of the ball.
I’ll take it every week. Disastrous start to the season and still only 2 games back into the bye.
Pretty sure I just saw Moncrief catch a ball. What a night.
What’s with the shitty snapping today, though? (Need something to bitch about, after all).
That went well-ish. We have now proven twice-over that we can beat a team last in their division. This bodes well for the upcoming Dolphins, Bengals and Cardinals games, and heck, the Jets are functionally equivalent to last in their division. So there might be some Sundays where I don’t cry myself to sleep.
I was quite impressed with both sides of the team tonight. They got it done.
Looks like Stephon Tuitt is done for the season unless he can play through a torn pectoral muscle.
One step forward, one step back. He’s been a terror on the line this year.