3 Pittsburgh Steelers most to blame for painfully hapless Wild Card loss to Bills

1. Mason Rudolph was never the Steelers' answer, even if he was the best option

Look, there’s a part of me that doesn’t want to be too hard on quarterback Mason Rudolph. He went on a great run at the end of the regular season but, despite what some delusional Steelers fans may have been thinking coming into the playoffs, this is a quarterback who has been a career backup in Pittsburgh for a reason. The Bills showed us why time and again in this game. 

The interception to kill a long, successful drive in the second quarter down 14-0 was a back-breaker, to be sure. It was a ball that needed more zip and perhaps better placement on it into the end zone and instead was picked off. However, that was far from the most egregious problem that Rudolph exuded. 

Multiple times throughout the game, we saw Rudolph be maddeningly over-conservative. It would be one thing if he was under constant duress every single time he dropped back – and to be sure, there were plenty of times when he was pressured – but there were numerous instances in which he had time in the pocket and rather than trying to make a play or big-time throw, he just checked it down short of the sticks. 

On top of that, when Rudolph did need to make some throws, he was just off in big moments. Whether it was just a bit long, just a bit outside, or just simply not on target at all, he wasn’t locked in on the throws that needed to be made for the Steelers to have a chance to win this game. 

Again, no one should’ve expected a star-caliber performance from him… it’s Mason Rudolph. But he could’ve given this team a chance to win and his play, particularly in the first half, really never gave the Steelers a chance.