ORCHARD PARK, N.Y. -- He knew what I meant.
He knew he wouldn't want to answer it.
This was why:
Pick that up at the end? How he had to catch himself?
I'd asked Mason Rudolph if he'd felt he'd shown something over these past four weeks and, in the moment I'd sensed he was already trying to turn that that into a team topic, I gently gestured his way and specified that I meant him. And showing that he's an NFL starting quarterback.
"Yeah, I think, you know, when I go back and look at the totality of the tape, I'll get a better feel for it," he began, still seeming to seek an escape. "Right now, obviously, the plan was to come here and get a win, and we fell short to a great team. But I think I can say I was proud of what we as an offense put on tape these last few weeks. Just the way we celebrated, the way guys cheered for each other. Whether the run game was working whether the receivers were rolling, I mean, it was just a ... we had chemistry and we had belief and love for one another."
He was about to break. And if hadn't been for some Buffalo TV reporter coldly seizing the brief pause at the end with an unrelated question, he might've broken the whole way.
Be sure it would've been a first.
____________________
Much needs to change for these Steelers. I'll bet we can all agree on that.
Not just because they fell short of the Bills, 31-17, on this frigid Monday evening at snowbound Highmark Stadium. Not just because it's their fifth loss in a row in the NFL playoffs. Not just because their entire 2023 season was an oxymoron unto itself with 10 wins amid some of the league's ugliest underlying metrics. And not even just because Najee Harris, who'd slogged for barely enough yards on this day -- 37 on 12 carries -- that he'd have achieved the same result by falling onto his face a dozen times ... somehow felt comfortable afterward sermoning reporters about how the team could be better run in 2024.
No, I swear.
What a five months it's been, huh?
But yeah, for all that's unfolded, if I rewind back to the lowest of the lows in Indianapolis, I'm on record as suggesting that, no matter how it'd all turn out, Mike Tomlin shouldn't escape unscathed. As I wrote then, Art Rooney II needed to conduct an unprecedented examination of all facets of football operations, up to and including Tomlin's performance, and bring about any and all necessary change. What's more, I'd add, if Tomlin would balk at such change, then a change at head coach should follow.
I take not one syllable of that back.
Not. One. Syllable.
Tomlin's got one year left on his contract and, as far as I'm concerned, he can walk right out that figurative door the same way he walked out of his postgame press conference here upon being asked about that.
Live on NFL Network, baby:
βMike, you have a year left on your contractβ¦β
β Ian Rapoport (@RapSheet) January 16, 2024
Mike Tomlin: π¨ βπ½ pic.twitter.com/ouAncRXTzy
Regardless of how anyone feels about the question or its timing -- I thought the question was fair, though anyone who covers the team can attest it'd be infinitely more likely to get a meaningful answer later this week -- that's a petulant way to behave in a formal league/team setting, particularly for a 17th-year head coach.
So much of his act is tired. So much of the predictability of his results and methodology and playing favorites with personnel and passive strategy and laughable clock management -- all on display again on this occasion -- are tired. Even to many on the inside.
If he stays, he stays. If he goes, I'll bet it'll be more mutual than one might think.
The center needs to change:
β DK Pittsburgh Sports (@DKPSmedia) January 16, 2024
Mason Cole, awesome dude, awful center.
A true No. 1 receiver's still on the list.
George Pickens has moments of pure magic. But he can't be such a big pain that he'd run up nearly $200,000 in league/team fines as a second-year pro ... and fumble away the Steelers' third possession:
β DK Pittsburgh Sports (@DKPSmedia) January 16, 2024
And allow this Rudolph gem to slip through his hands, turning a near-certain touchdown drive into a field goal:
β DK Pittsburgh Sports (@DKPSmedia) January 16, 2024
And fail to get any separation on another Rudolph dart on this game-sealing fourth-and-3 flop:
β DK Pittsburgh Sports (@DKPSmedia) January 16, 2024
And then, after all that, he'd have the audacity to say, βYou canβt play the Bills and the refs at the same time.β
He'll be a No. 2 at best.
A defensive lineman's needed. Maybe more than any position, if I'm being blunt.
I love Cam Heyward. It's impossible for anyone to not love Cam, just as it'll be impossible to not consider his candidacy for Canton someday. But watch and listen carefully his answers when I asked, first, how much he's played through this season with that surgically repaired groin and, second, whether he wants to return for another:
Only the '72 Dolphins and Father Time are undefeated, right?
"In my heart I want to play," the big man finally replied through an uncomfortable-looking smile. "But you know, it's been rough. I need to take the offseason to get healthy again. Battling back through a groin ... you know, it's one thing to just walk off a groin. It's another thing to play football. And there's been some other stuff. But you know, it's definitely been a season that I just wanted to put my hand in that pile."
Which, respectfully, was about all he was able to do. Larry Ogunjobi wasn't much different, and for similar reasons. And Keeanu Benton learned one of several hard second-half-rookie lessons on this day.
The franchise of Mean Joe Greene should never let this room get hollow.
An inside linebacker's needed. Or two. Or three.
Omar Khan took down all the pins when he accumulated Elandon Roberts, Kwon Alexander and Cole Holcomb. But losing two-thirds of that rabid, rambunctious trio, as I'd predicted at the time, would never be fully appreciated for the loss it was. And it still won't be, even after poor Myles Jack was pulled off the couch and put into a featured role by the defensive coaches on this day, only to be exposed time and again.
A punter's needed. But I won't bother expounding on this case, since Pressley Harvin, like Harris, like a couple others, are teacher's-pets types in the Tomlin environment. Harvin will continue to shank for as long as Harris continues to take futile handoffs that eat up first downs.
Know what else is needed?
"To get healthy," to borrow from Cam. And he's right. It's not an excuse if it's a fact, and this defense being emasculated here had plenty to do with T.J. Watt being out, Cam being limited, and Minkah Fitzpatrick being just back from a knee issue and looking very much like it. Those were universally seen as the defense's top three players at season's outset.
More's needed beyond all that, too. It's a flawed football team. I won't pretend otherwise.
But I also won't huff and puff that it's all F-minus bad.
Least of all at the most important position.
____________________
The quarterback doesn't need to change for these Steelers. I'll bet we won't agree on that.
Or hey, maybe we will.
No one needs to hear me sing Rudolph's praises anymore. But here's a refresher, anyway: He's been the starter for the season's four most challenging weeks, he won all three regular-season games, he won two of those on the road, he won once on the West Coast, he won once in Baltimore within an ice storm, he ran up a 118.0 QB rating that ranked No. 1 in the NFL in that span, and he threw for 719 yards, three touchdowns and zero interceptions.
That was a hell of a lot more than the "nice job" Tomlin attached to him three times. And he showed a hell of a lot more than a "hot hand," per another Tomlin assessment.
He showed poise in the pocket, he steadied his long-shaky offensive line in the process, and he plain old passed with enough power and precision that he freed up room for Harris, Jaylen Warren and Freiermuth to shine. And you know, if you asked them off the record, since no one wished to offend Kenny Pickett in any public print, they'd all affirm as much.
So, what happened here?
Well, Rudolph wasn't sharp in the first quarter, 2 for 7 for 24 yards on the opening four possessions. Two of those passes were tipped at the line. Another was overthrown. And another, obviously no fault of his, brought about the Pickens fumble after being caught.
Then, even after he'd get going late in the quarter and moved the Steelers to the Buffalo 3, this followed:
β DK Pittsburgh Sports (@DKPSmedia) January 16, 2024
Ow.
Diontae Johnson could've made a harder U-turn up, and Kaiir Elam did well to beat him to that -- "Just looking for the ball," he'd explain to Buffalo reporters -- but Rudolph took it all on himself, and he was convincing: "It was a great play by the defender, kind of a timing deal. Thought he covered 'Tae well out of his break. He was in his low hip, and the leverage was a little off. I've just gotta put that ball much more outside. Us or nobody."
Regardless of who was to blame for any of the above, it was a massive mess. The kind that one might think would rattle someone making his 14th career NFL start.
Nope: Rudolph wound up 22 of 39 for 229 with the two touchdowns that allowed the Steelers to stay in a game they'd trailed by 21:
β DK Pittsburgh Sports (@DKPSmedia) January 16, 2024
β DK Pittsburgh Sports (@DKPSmedia) January 16, 2024
By God, even Tomlin was moved to praise Rudolph, saying, "I thought he was solid. I thought he was competitive. I thought his confidence was unshakable. I thought he, you know, displayed the things that he displayed really for the last month or so."
Agreed. In a way, on that count alone, it might've impressed more than the first three games.
"Anytime you're on the road and playing an explosive team, you want to have a fast start, and we didn't," Rudolph would say. "We knew being on the road, you've got to come out and keep it close early, and we didn't. But I was proud of the way we fought back there at the end."
Agreed with that, too.
All of which could soon be moot, by the way. Rudolph's about to become a free agent. And because the other 31 teams probably have access to cable TVs or Peacock or whatever, they're undoubtedly aware of what's become of him since being removed from storage. There'll be more interest in him than at any point since he and James Washington were bombing up Oklahoma State, and he'll entertain offers that could add actual decimal points to his current salary of $1,080,000.
Letting him walk away can't be an option for the Steelers.
It'd be outright idiotic.
A waste of an asset that only happens to be the most coveted asset in the sport.
I can't guess what he'd cost, because I also can't guess whether there'd be enough suitors seeing him as anything more than a backup, and that's what'd set the market. But I don't have to guess at these three pivotal points in this scenario:
1. HE'D STAY
One might think Rudolph would bear some grudge against the Steelers and/or Tomlin for burying him all this time. He legit doesn't. He's tight with Khan and with many of the players, as evidenced by the video above.
I've been told this behind the scenes, as well, and, upon asking him myself after this game if he'd like to stay, he didn't hesitate to respond:
"I love the Pittsburgh Steelers. They've been my only home for six years," he'd say. "We'll see what happens. It's not really my decision, so a lot of it's out of my control. We'll see what happens."
I believe him, but I also believe he'd be nuts to not seek out some form of promise that he'd at least be part of a fair process in choosing a starting quarterback, whether it's between him and Pickett or anyone else. He wants to play. He should want to play. And being Mr. Nice Guy to date hasn't exactly facilitated that.
2. HE'S UNCONDITIONALLY AFFORDABLE
In a league that sees quarterbacks consuming a quarter of the payroll, Rudolph could reap a huge raise and still keep the Steelers among the lowest spenders at the position. Not that this would be a goal, but it sure doesn't hurt when the roster's already got several big-ticket stars.
3. OMAR'S NOT AN IDIOT
He's super-smart, in reality. And he feels as strongly about Rudolph as vice versa. It was Khan who cold-called Rudolph this past summer and coaxed him into coming back to the Steelers even after Rudolph had informed family and friends he was finished in Pittsburgh and, to boot, put his house up for sale.
Tomlin can be a tough read, so it's not as easy to tell how he feels about any of his quarterbacks. But even if Tomlin's as all-in on Pickett as I believe him to be, Khan's got Rooney's ear, as well.
And look, there's no crime in keeping both. Or drafting a youngster while Rudolph fills the role -- whether as starter or backup -- that'd been meant for Mitch Trubisky.
____________________
Sorry, I haven't had much to share on the game at hand. Not going to lie: When I pulled off the Colts' lot in Indianapolis, this season was charred toast for me.
Everything since, for me, has been found gold. But nothing more so than the stirring reversal of this still-young offense.
"We've grown so much," Calvin Austin was telling me after this game. "You look back to Latrobe and the preseason, how we were all excited, and then a lot of the struggles that came after that. But we got better. We worked hard, we kept believing in each other and ... I feel like we've really found something."
I couldn't resist: So you've found a quarterback, too?
"We found two quarterbacks," he'd reply with a wry smile. "Nice try."
Maybe next year.
THE ESSENTIALS
β’ Game book
β’ Live file
β’ Highlights
β’ Team feed
β’ Standings
β’ Statistics
β’ Schedule
β’ Scoreboard
THE IN-GAME INJURIES
β’ Joey Porter Jr., cornerback, was diagnosed with a concussion in the third quarter and didn't return
β’ Allen Robinson, wide receiver, was diagnosed with a concussion in the fourth quarter and didn't return
β’ Pat Freiermuth, tight end, had an ankle injury in the third quarter but continued to play
THE MULTIMEDIA
THE SCHEDULE
It's ... the offseason. The Steelers are expected to have two media availabilities this week, one with Tomlin, the other with players, but there've been no times put forth yet.
THE FEED
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