Be fair now. Rudolph was the first rule breaker. He tried to cork-screw Garrett’s helmet off and kicked him after a legitimate play. Garrett’s actions were far more egregious, but let’s not omit Rudolph in rule-breaking discussions.
I’m surprised at how well Hodges played today. My observation until now was that he ran out of the pocket far too quickly, but today showed that it worked for him. He’s also not afraid to throw the ball downfield. Rudolph was a bit too willing to stay in the pocket and he was clearly not as fearless. I’d characterize the difference as a careful QB trying not to make mistakes versus one who doesn’t give a hoot because he never expected to be in this position.
7-5, still in the hunt, with practice squad players. This year has been nuts.
Wild year. The defense at least has been on a pretty good roll. Hopefully they can keep the mediocre Cardinals looking mediocre and give us a chance next week.
As weird/ugly as this season has been we gotta remember that aside from a blowout loss to the the Patriots in week 1, and an ugly loss to the Browns where Rudolph threw 4 picks, our other three losses are:
2 point loss to the 9-2 Seahawks
4 point loss to the 10-2 Forty-Niners
3 point loss to the 10-2 Ravens (in OT)
Every week someone new steps up. This week it was last week’s goat, Diontae Johnson.
This win cemented Tomlin’s career streak of no losing seasons, and he did that starting 0-3, then 1-4, while raiding the practice squad. He ought to be among the favorites for Coach of the Year.
You have to love that Pittsburgh had 3 extra home games this year, between AZ, Cincy, and Chargers. It is amazing that they pulled out a winning season. “The standard is the standard” indeed.
My defeatist belief in this thread that 8-8 would be a stretch was fortunately very wrong. As was my notion early in the season that there was not much difference between Steelers and Dolphins. Most wrong, however, were my bold assertions that the Bengals had something, however little, to offer, and that the Browns were not a dirty team. I obviously should stick to voetbal instead.
I got a nice chuckle this morning.
Here’s a quote from LeVeon Bell, he who was so upset by his over-usage by the Steelers that he held out for a whole year:
"“For me, I always feel like I can do more. When they call me to do more I’ll be ready. Until then, I’m going to go out there, do my role, play football and do what I can.”
Heh. That’s funny as a $27 million guaranteed for 3.2 yards per carry.
After he signed with the Jets he publicly said he was ready to get 400+ touches to get them to the Super Bowl.
Two ironies here: the first is that, as you said, he claimed that the Sterlers were using him up, and the second is that the Jets will never give him that many touches, don’t know how to use him properly, and can’t block like the Steelers could so his Hall of Fame career has pretty much hit the wall.
At least he can console himself with the fat contract he’s on, but I’m having a hard time figuring out why he gave up $14 million to get more or less the same thing the Steelers offered only to watch his stats implode. That has to be one of the biggest miscalculations ever by a player.
The Titans losing today takes an incredible amount of pressure off the Steelers tonight. If they win tonight they need only beat the Jets. If they lose they get the Jets and a Ratbirds team resting starters in Week 17, while Tennessee has to win out against the Saints and the Texans again.
Pittsburgh has their fate in their own hands and a comparatively easy schedule.
The bottom line: after an 0-3/1-4 start, the loss of virtually everyone on offense in a skill position for numerous weeks, and essentially starting the practice squad for most of the season, the Steelers are on the cusp of the playoffs.
That, friends, would be nothing short of amazing.
I really wanted that one. Buffalo’s defense was really good, and so was Pittsburgh’s. They just made one more play than the Steelers did.
So it’s on to the Jets, which is now a must-win. If they can’t beat the Jets they don’t deserve the playoffs. After that, we’ll see. They can still get in with a loss to the Rats, but that requires the Saints and Texans to beat the Titans, which not only is possible but likely. But first, the Jets.
I was pulling for the Steelers because I want Duck to stay a starter. Go Duck!
The Defense has been playing Superbowl Champion caliber football this year, its a shame that the offense is borderline inept.
A Duck’s life is nasty, brutish, and short.
I have no confidence at all in Rudolph.
His quack may or may not, but the Duck echoes for sure.
Steelers now scouting Central Catholic’s JV squad to inject some youth into The team. Do we have anyone left on offense who played in the NFL before last week?
Steelers’ centers show shitty snapping skills.
And we end on a shitty snap. It feels like an absolute disgrace, but it probably is just a return to the mean for what is essentially a practice squad offense.
Tastes sour, though.
Those are my attorneys.
Here’s my big issue. Neither Rudolph nor Hodges are hall of fame type quarterbacks. However, the play calling is not giving them a chance. They run when they do not have to throw, and throw when they have to allowing defenses to blitz the pass in obvious situations against these inexperienced QBs. Fitchner gives them no chance.
Duck is great when he has confidence. Once it was shattered, he was/is shaky as an alcoholic on Sunday afternoon in a dry county. This is the worst NFL offense I have ever seen.