As expected, Mason Rudolph played well against the Jets on Sunday.
The second-year quarterback entered the game in the second quarter and completed 14 of 20 passes for 129 yards and a touchdown before exiting at the end of the third quarter with an injury to his left shoulder.
Mike Tomlin has pushed a lot of the right buttons this season with his team, coaxing eight wins out of a team missing its starting quarterback for the past 13 games, along with numerous other injuries.
But Rudolph should have started this game against the Jets, which the Steelers lost 16-10 to fall out of control of their playoff chances. Nothing we saw Sunday at Met Life Stadium changed my mind on that.
In fact, it was a convincing reminder of why that should have been the case.
Again, nothing against Devlin Hodges. His has been a great story. He led the Steelers to three of those wins without Ben Roethlisberger.
But his shortcomings in terms of arm strength are too great to overcome. Rudolph doesn't have a canon for an arm, but it's far better than that of Hodges.
Tomlin had a tough decision to make in regard to which quarterback to start. But had Rudolph started this game, the Steelers (8-7) would be prepping to play the Ravens Sunday needing only to win to get into the playoffs.
At least that's what it says here.
• As it is, Hodges will reportedly get the start in Baltimore because Rudolph suffered a shoulder injury.
There has been some stuff out there questioning Rudolph's toughness because he didn't stay in the game with an injured left shoulder sustained on this play late in the third quarter:
That's silly. He actually did stay in the game for another four plays after suffering the injury. Then, when he got to the sideline, he was in so much pain, the doctors wouldn't let him back onto the field.
He also was unable to even take his own clothes off in the locker room after this game, needing help to get out of his uniform.
But yeah, he should have kept playing with one arm, even though it was his good one, because certainly the Jets would have gently laid him on the ground if given the chance to tackle him.
• Some will look at Le'Veon Bell's stats from this game and say he wasn't a factor. But Bell was the driving force behind why the Jets won this game.
Sure, he only had 72 yards on 25 carries, a 2.9-yard per attempt average. But Bell had five carries for 25 yards and one reception for seven yards on the Jets' opening possession, which resulted in their lone touchdown, also converting a fourth-and-1 run on that drive.
Then, in the fourth quarter with the Jets facing third-and-5 at the Pittsburgh 39, Bell got seven yards on a run to put the Jets in field goal range, allowing them to expand on a 13-10 lead.
He got the yards when it mattered most.
Had Bell still been playing for the Steelers Sunday, they win this game. And there's a good chance they'd have an additional win or two this season, given James Conner's near constant unavailability.
You can argue whether you think Bell is worth the money he's being paid, but you can't argue the fact that he's pretty good at his job.
• So now the Steelers need to win on Sunday in Baltimore -- which will be resting a number of players, including Lamar Jackson.
The Ravens were in a similar situation in 2012 and John Harbaugh sat a number of key players.
But not everyone does it that way. Remember, back in 2003 then-Ravens coach Brian Billick played his starters in a regular season finale against the 6-9 Steelers despite having nothing to gain -- save getting Jamal Lewis a 2,000-yard rushing season.
The Ravens won that game, 13-10, in overtime and Lewis got his 2,000 yards -- barely. But the toll of that physical game lingered and the Ravens were summarily dismissed from the postseason the following week, 20-17, by the visiting Titans at home in Wildcard game.
The loss, meanwhile, secured the 11th pick in the draft for the Steelers in 2004, which they then used on Roethlisberger.
If the Steelers can win Sunday and the Titans lose to the Texans in Houston, the Steelers will be in the playoffs.
Texans' head coach Bill O'Brien said Monday said he plans on playing all of his starters, even if Houston can't improve on the No. 4 seed it currently holds.
"Anytime we take the field ... we are trying to win," O'Brien said.
The problem, of course, is that the Chiefs, who currently sit in the No. 3 spot in the AFC, play the Chargers at 1 p.m., and the Texans and Titans play at 4:25 p.m. So while O'Brien might not be resting players, his team will know that it can't move up.
If the NFL wanted to keep teams from resting players -- and it does -- it should have moved the start time of the Kansas City game, as well. The idea was considered, but the league didn't also want to move the Patriots-Dolphins game, as well.
The Steelers also could get into the postseason if they lose, the Titans lose and the Colts win to make it a three-way tie for the final spot. But the easiest path is to win and have the Titans lose.
• The Steelers were pretty resigned to the fact they had blown it in the locker room after this game.
Ramon Foster, in particular, was pretty salty about it all. But that could be because he realizes his personal window has slammed shut.
• I saw Roethlisberger in the locker room after this game and he wasn't wearing any kind of brace on his right elbow, which is nothing new. But he was wearing a brace on his right wrist, for what that's worth.
• As bad as things have been at times this season, the Steelers are 8-5 in games in which Roethlisberger did not play.
That makes them 18-13 in the Tomlin era in games in which they've played without Roethlisberger. All things considered, that's pretty good without the future Hall of Fame quarterback.
But nobody will care about that record without Roethlisberger unless the Steelers get the win they need on Sunday against the Ravens. And even then, it might not matter.
The record of the backups who have started in place of Roethlisberger? Charlie Batch was 3-3. Dennis Dixon was 2-1. Byron Leftwich was 0-1. Michael Vick was 2-1. Landry Jones was 3-2. Rudolph is 5-3 and Hodges 3-2.
So veteran backups are 5-5 when replacing Roethlisberger. Young, inexperienced guys are 11-8. Go figure.
• There's nothing wrong with the Steelers offense that a dynamic running back wouldn't fix. And by dynamic back, I'm talking a well-rounded back that has some burst.
There are a number of solid prospects in this year's draft. But, as we've seen in the past decade, you don't need to take one in the first round.
The Steelers could go running back with their top pick somewhere in the middle of the second round and do quite well. That's where players such as Ohio State's J.K. Dobbins, Wisconsin's Jonathan Taylor and Oklahoma State's Chuba Hubbard are currently slated to go.
The other pieces are in place. James Washington and Diontae Johnson have both proven they can be reliable options in the passing game. In fact, if there's a question mark in the Steelers' offense right now, it's JuJu Smith-Schuster, as DK laid out here.
Maybe he's just better as Robin than being Batman. But the Steelers needed Batman this season, especially early on.
• The idea that the coaching staff has somehow failed this season is ludicrous. The Steelers have remained in playoff contention throughout the 2019 season. Without Roethlisberger. With Conner missing nearly half the season. With Smith-Schuster missing a quarter of it.
How easily we forget back in September when some were advocating the team punt on the season to land a top-5 pick. To do that, the Steelers would have had to win no more than four games.
Sorry, but that wouldn't have been all that interesting. Say what you will about this team, but it's been in nearly every game this season. It hasn't won them all, but it's had a chance.
That has made for an entertaining season. And that's what this is really all about to begin with. We watch sports to be entertained.
Does anyone think fans in Cincinnati, Miami, Washington or Detroit wouldn't trade places right now? Anyone think those fans were entertained this season?
• I know, the expectations for the Steelers are always higher. But, as Clint Eastwood via Harry Callahan once said, "Man's got to know his limitations."
In this case, the team has to know its limitations. All season long, this team has believed it could still accomplish the goals it set out to fulfill at the start of the season.
It believed that because the coaching staff never stopped preaching the big picture. But the reality of the situation has always been this: The Steelers needed at least league-average quarterbacking to have a chance to win each week.
And while Rudolph and Hodges provided that at times, that wasn't always the case, leading to losses to the Browns, Bills and, finally, the Jets.
But there has been a lot of growth with this team, one that has 10 starters with less than three years experience in the league.
Roethlisberger coming back next season -- and he is coming back next season -- provides hope. But there's also this caveat. Fellow 2004 draft class members Eli Manning and Philip Rivers both look like they might be done.
Now, Roethlisberger has always been a better athlete than those guys, so perhaps he can hold on longer. But the Steelers also have to be cognizant of the fact that Roethlisberger could be done at any point, as well.
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