The Pittsburgh Steelers fell short of their goal of upsetting the Buffalo Bills in the first round of the playoffs. They fell behind a 21-0 in the first half and despite a solid effort in the second half, were never able to bring it any closer than a seven-point gap. The defense didn’t take care of business in the first half and the offense didn’t capitalize on its opportunities to score points in the beginning portion of the game.
QB Mason Rudolph, while speaking to the media following the game, was asked why the run game never got established properly, especially considering it being a focal point over the team’s three-game win streak.
“We gotta be a little more balanced. I don’t know what I started the game throwing-wise, but I didn’t have enough completions to really stay balanced,” Rudolph said via video of the press conference posted on the team’s YouTube page. “We knew they were a tough defensive front and [it] wasn’t gonna be an easy job, but like I said when you’re hitting some more balls on the outside like we weren’t it makes it a little more easier to keep ’em off balance.”
One of the great features of the offense over the final three games of the regular season with Rudolph as the quarterback was the run-pass balance. In Rudolph’s first start against the Cincinnati Bengals, the Steelers ran the ball 30 times and passed it 27 times. That was the closest the team came to throwing the ball more than running it until the playoff loss Monday. Against the Bills, the Steelers threw the ball 39 times—by far the most attempts Rudolph had in his four starts. He completed 22 of those passes for 229 yards, two touchdowns, and an interception.
It is only natural to pass the ball a lot when you find yourself with a 21-point deficit, but how did they get there in the first place?
The Steelers started the game with the ball on offense. Rudolph completed his first pass to Jaylen Warren for a 16-yard gain, but then had a pass batted down at the line of scrimmage before overthrowing TE Pat Freiermuth up the right sideline. The Bills scored on their ensuing possession.
The Steelers’ next offensive drive was a three-and-out. RB Najee Harris gained six yards on the first two plays combined and then there appeared to be a miscommunication between WR Diontae Johnson and Rudolph as the ball fell incomplete without a real chance for Johnson to make a play on the ball.
WR George Pickens fumbled on the first play of the Steelers’ next offensive drive, and the Bills scored one play later to make it a 14-point game. All it took was a few incompletions over the first few drives and a turnover by Pickens to blow this game wide open. By the time Rudolph got in a rhythm, he turned the ball over in the end zone to set up the Bills’ third score and a 21-point lead.
That makes it difficult to run the ball down that many scores, and the lack of rushing success had a ripple effect on the rest of the offense. Over the three-game win streak, Rudolph was averaging three explosive passing plays of 20 or more yards per game. Against the Bills, the only explosive play was a 33-yard pass to Freiermuth on the drive that ended in an end-zone interception. The run game didn’t set up the deep passing game, and the deep passing game didn’t provide any relief for the run game.
The Steelers got away from what made had them successful at the end of the regular season and all it took was a few incompletions early in the game to get there.
