It’d be nice to see Rudolph, Pickens join the offense
Yes, I’m desperate enough to want Mason Rudolph running the Steelers offense.
What do they have to lose, except a few more games?
OK, four more games. But we have reached the point where I heard people talking about how the offense “played better” in the second half of the 21-18 loss to the New England Patsies on Thursday night.
These were the Steelers’ second-half “drives” over the final 30 minutes, when they scored all of eight points ...
• 11 plays, 32 yards, punt. • 3 plays, 7 yards, punt.
• 4 plays, 9 yards, failed fourth down.
• 4 plays, 26 yards, gift touchdown.
• 7 plays, 13 yards, punt.
• 6 plays, 22 yards, downs. • 2 plays, 45 yards, end of game.
Which is more laughable — 11 plays for 32 yards or seven plays for 13 yards? It was like watching an injured inch worm attempt the 40-yard dash. Forget the last series, and you have 35 plays for 108 yards. Chew on that. I even had a nightmare that Connor Heyward attempted a sprint pass on 1st-and-goal from the 1.
At least it never got that bad.
Mitch Trubisky was terrible. He presents the countenance of a man who fears prison if he makes a single mistake. He doesn’t even look confident sliding after scrambles.
He should have been picked off at least twice instead of once. The offense looked disjointed, disorganized and desperate. Trubisky’s deep ball simply doesn’t exist.
So why not Rudolph? Tell him to go out there with his Oklahoma State mindset, the one that got him that first-round grade from the Steelers (insert punch line here). Chuck it around. Throw it deep. And maybe look for the guy wearing No. 14.
George Pickens is the Steelers’ best offensive player, which is why it’s so infuriating that they treat him like the invisible man. Even people with no discernible ties to the Steelers are enraged at the neglect.
This was normally mildmannered NFL analyst Brian Baldinger at one point last night on the medium formerly known as Twitter: “@steelers Yo; Pickens is wearing the red shoes in case you forgot where he is.”
This was normally mildmannered former NFL quarterback Ryan Fitzpatrick freaking out on the Amazon halftime show: “THROW THE BALL TO GEORGE PICKENS — PLEASE!”
I mean, honestly, what are we doing here? In the seven games since he torched the Rams, Pickens has been targeted an average of just five times per game and has just 22 catches for 267 yards. I don’t even care if he’s open. I don’t care if he’s quadruple teamed. THROW HIM THE BALL!
Meanwhile ...
• It has been said that Mike Tomlin has “never lost a team.” I don’t happen to agree with that. His teams have crumbled down the stretch several times, including the time it blew a 2.5game lead in the division with six games left in 2018, lost to the Oakland Raiders, listened to its quarterback shred his receivers on live radio and watched its best player (Mr. Big Chest) quit. But how about this year? Is this beginning to look like a team that is less than focused on the task at hand?
The Al Michaels-Kirk Herbstreit duo sure thought so, as evidenced by this exchange late in the first half:
Herbstreit: “I can’t help but think about the tease where Mike Tomlin talked about they played JV football last week against Cardinals, who are 2-10. ... They’re the fifth seed, right in the thick of things, and they’re playing a 2-10 team again, and this is the effort they put forth here for about a quarter and a half?”
Michaels: “Pretty terrible.”
• Pickens, of course, is not absolved. Two weeks after teammate Diontae Johnson quit in the middle of a play, Pickens got this critique from Herbstreit after a second-quarter running play on which he barely moved (to be fair, the play was far to the other side of the field).
“One of the indicators teams have is receivers, how they come off the line on a run versus a pass,” Herbstreit said. “Here’s George Pickens on a run this last play. Just kind of taking the play off. I think that sends a message to your team. I look at receivers when it comes to their willingness to block, and the effort they’re willing to put forth. It kind of represents the pulse of the team. Bad look.”
• On the other extreme, Ezekiel Elliott’s incredible hustle play was the difference in the game. He chased down Mykal Walker on what appeared to be sure pick-six. Bailey Zappe stinks, by the way, and seemed dead set on handing the Steelers the game in the second half. The Steelers made him look like Joe Montana in the first half. His third touchdown pass should have been intercepted or at least broken up.
• It’s kind of funny to see all the “see, it wasn’t Matt Canada’s fault” comments out there. Only very limited thinkers thought Canada was THE problem. The rest of us knew he was A problem, a big one, and one that likely inflicted lasting damage from which the Steelers might not extricate themselves until an adequate replacement with a new playbook arrives. Nothing that has happened since Canada left absolves him or justifies his tenure in any way.
Canada was one of the worst coordinators in Steelers history and maybe one of the worst in NFL history. He was Tomlin’s biggest mistake. It would have been terribly unrealistic to believe the Steelers were suddenly going to become prolific while still using Canada’s playbook and without replacements of much playcalling pedigree.
To review: Canada was horrible across three quarterbacks — failing to reach 400 yards once in 45 tries. And by the way, are we going to pretend the Steelers’ starting quarterback wasn’t injured last week?
For all his shortcomings, Kenny Pickett had the best game of his career the week Canada was fired and then was injured at the end of the first half against Arizona, and we have no idea how he would have fared in the second half. Post-Canada, across six quarters, Pickett is 31 of 43 for 348 yards, no touchdowns and no picks. It would have been interesting to see how the second half went last week.
• The “false start” call on Steelers long snapper Christian Kuntz was beyond absurd. I agree with Doug Whaley, who said on the WPXI postgame show that such incidents are proof that every call should be challengeable. It’s Bill Belichick, ironically, who has been pushing that idea for years. Give each coach a limited number of challenges and make virtually any call reviewable. If they run out of challenges, they have to live with the calls.
• I’m giving the defense a break. You might not be. I am. It has been ridiculously overworked and ravaged by injury. Guys who were flying airplanes (Myles Jack) and selling Pokemon cards (Blake Martinez) and sitting on couches (Trenton Thompson, Walker) are now part of the equation. How about the offense wins a game?
• What were the numbers on that Larry Ogunjobi contract, again?
• Let’s be honest, the worst thing that could have happened was Cleveland and Baltimore handing the Steelers games earlier this season. If not for those gifts, this team would be what it deserves to be — 5-8 on its way to 6-11 or so with a great chance at a top-10 or even top-five pick. Those wins were curses in disguise, helping to masquerade a genuinely bad football team — one that still might make the playoffs in spite of itself, thus furthering the ruse.
• I realize that hope was nearly lost, but the Steelers’ final play made no sense and might have kept them from sending the game to overtime. The Patriots somehow allowed Johnson to sneak out off bounds with a 24-yard gain, putting the ball on the Steelers 37 with seven seconds left. Chris Boswell earlier made a 56-yarder that would have been good from 60-plus. He made a 57-yarder that would have been good from at least 65 in Vegas. Knowing that, why not try a quick, 15-yard out to the sidelines and get out of bounds and try a field goal? Instead, Trubisky throws to Allen Robinson clearly in the field of play — and not even a Hail Mary type of pass. What?
• Allen Robinson played?
• I didn’t love the deep throw on 4th-and-2 on the previous series, either. Just about anything else in Canada’s junior-high playbook would have been preferable — even a Connor Heyward sprint pass.