Steelers stock up, stock down after tying Lions: Mason Rudolph does not help or hurt his case as longterm QB

Let’s start this off by breaking down one Steelers player whose stock didn’t really rise or fall during Sunday’s 16-16 tie with the Lions. Filling in for Ben Roethlisberger after Big Ben tested positive for COVID-19 on Saturday night, Rudolph went 30 of 50 for 242 yards with a touchdown and an interception in his first start of the season.

It was clearly not a great afternoon, but it could have been worse, especially when you consider the rainy conditions, the timing of Roethlisberger’s positive test and the fact that the Steelers were playing without one of their best skill players in receiver Chase Claypool. Rudolph was nearly perfect in leading the Steelers on a touchdown on their first drive. He and the offense cooled off from there, as a misfire on a third-down pass to Diontae Johnson ended Pittsburgh’s second drive. 

After falling behind 16-10, Rudolph led the Steelers on two drives that ended with Chris Boswell field goals. Rudolph had several impressive plays during that span that included a 26-yard run on a broken play. He also had some plays he wishes he could have back, none more than his inaccurate throw to a wide open Ray-Ray McCloud in the end zone on third-and-goal that would have given the Steelers the lead. 

It was more of the same in overtime. He found Johnson open for a 39-yard gain that ended with Johnson losing the ball after getting hit from behind. Rudolph was 7 of 10 on the Pittsburgh’s final drive, but he would have been better off throwing the ball away instead of throwing to Freiermuth on a play where he had little to no chance of getting out of bounds. Speaking of Freiermuth, Rudolph misfired on a pass intended for Pittsburgh’s rookie tight end on the previous drive, thus resulting in a punt. 

A stronger performance from Rudolph would have given more assurance to Steelers fans that he could be the starting quarterback in the event that Roethlisberger is not back next season. A bad performance would have caused more doubt about Rudolph’s status as the Big Ben’s possible successor. In the end, Rudolph played well enough to nearly lead the Steelers to a win, which is the main thing Steelers coach Mike Tomlin pointed to when asked to evaluate his quarterback’s performance. 

“He did what we expected him to do,” Tomlin said, via Joe Rutter of the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review. “He gave us a chance to win, but that’s not the first opportunity for him. This guy has been at it for a while, so we expected him to play well, and we thought he gave us a chance to win.”

Let’s take a look at the Steelers whose stock did go up or down during Sunday’s game. 

Harris’ stock is up on a weekly basis, but on Sunday, Pittsburgh’s rookie running back (in my opinion) surpassed Ja’Marr Chase as the front-runner for Offensive Rookie of the Year. Facing a defense geared to stop him (Dan Campbell said as much during his postgame presser), Harris rushed for 60 yards on 12 carries in the first half. And while the rain created a muddy track in the second half, Harris still managed to run for 45 yards after intermission. He also caught all four of his targets for 28 yards. Down by three points and facing a third-and-10 on Detroit’s 43-yard-line, Harris fought for several extra yards after catching Rudolph’s short pass. Harris’ extra effort helped give Boswell as shorter albeit still long 51-yard field goal attempt. 

Bush’s stock has been down for most of the season. The former 10th overall pick has struggled to regain his footing after returning from last year’s ACL injury. He as among Pittsburgh’s defensive players who struggled to bring down the Lions’ ballcarriers on Sunday. An example of Bush’s struggles include his inability to bring down Godwin Igwebuike on his 42-yard touchdown run that gave the Lions a 16-10 lead. 

Stock up: Ray-Ray McCloud 

McCloud stepped up in place of Claypool. The team’s No. 4 receiver, McCloud led the Steelers with nine receptions. He also made amends for his botched fumble in last week’s win over Chicago, with 54 yards on six punt returns that included a 13-yard return. 

Stock down: Steelers gunners 

Pittsburgh’s gunners had a rough game. Their biggest gaffe came on Kalif Raymond’s 48-yard punt return with the Steelers ahead 7-0. The return set up the Lions’ game-tying touchdown. The unit also allowed Igwebuike to average a 24.4 yards per kickoff return. His 29-yard return gave the Lions good field position to start their second scoring drive. 

Stock up: Tre Norwood/James Pierre 

Pittsburgh’s young defensive backs each had impressive performances on Sunday. Among Norwood’s heads-up plays on Sunday included his third down tackle of Trinity Benson with 10 minutes remaining. He also broke up Goff’s third-down pass attempt on the Lions’ last full possession of the game. 

Pierre, a second-year defensive back who made the roster following an impressive training camp, was on the field for 75% of Pittsburgh’s defensive snaps and 58% of the team’s special teams snaps. He teamed up with Joe Schobert to stop Raymond for no gain on a key third-down play late in the third quarter. Pierre made an impressive open-field tackle on Swift midway through the fourth quarter, as Pierre was able to stop Swift’s hurdle attempt by grabbing his legs at the line of scrimmage. 

One of four rookie starters on Pittsburgh’s offense, Green has shown significant signs of improvement during the course of the season. But he had two high snaps on Sunday, with the second one resulting in a 19-yard loss that essentially ended the Steelers’ second drive of overtime. Expect Green to work with a wet football during future practices in order to better acclimate himself to Sunday’s conditions. 

He did not officially register a sack on Sunday, but Pittsburgh’s second-year pass rusher assisted on both of Cameron Heyward’s two sacks late in the game. With the Lions facing a third-and-seven on their second possession of overtime, Highsmith nearly stripped the ball out of Jared Goff’s hands before Heyward came through to secure the sack. Highsmith also recorded 11 tackles on Sunday that included two tackles for loss. 

Stock down: AFC North

The AFC North went 0-2-1 in their respective Week 10 games. The Cincinnati Bengals, who were on their bye week, moved from last to third place in the division after the Browns were blown out in New England. The Ravens squandered a chance to put some distance on themselves in the AFC North division race after falling to the previously two-win Dolphins in Miami last Thursday night. Pittsburgh squandered a chance to move past Baltimore for first place in the division by virtue of Sunday’s tie. 

Three of the division’s four teams will be on the road this week. Baltimore will face rookie quarterback Justin Fields and the Bears in Chicago, Pittsburgh will face second-year quarterback Justin Herbert and the Chargers in Los Angeles, and the Bengals will travel to Las Vegas to face the Raiders. The Browns will look to get back over .500 at home this Sunday against the Lions.