By Jared Villani
SteelerNation.com
As the season winds down, the Pittsburgh Steelers hopes of reaching the postseason are slowly slipping away after all of the adversity they have had to overcome. This game against the New York Jets was not exactly a must-win, but a W would've helped tremendously.
The Jets first drive was as successful as you can hope for as quarterback Sam Darnold marched his offense downfield and ultimately ended the 10-play drive threading the needle to his favorite target, Robby Anderson for a 23-yard touchdown pass. New York jumped out to an early 7-point lead over Pittsburgh.
The Steelers woes on offense continued for a great part of the half after two interceptions from Devlin "Duck" Hodges, who struggled last week against the Buffalo Bills. Duck had four interceptions last week on SNF, so head coach Mike Tomlin made the decision to turn to Mason Rudolph before things got out of hand.
Both teams exchanged field goals via Jets kicker Sam Ficken and the "Wizard of Boz," Chris Boswell which still separated the two teams by a Jets touchdown. Rudolph looked sharp in this game and it appeared as though being benched some weeks ago only benefited the young gunslinger. As the second quarter drew to a close, Rudolph found rookie Diontae Johnson in the end zone on a beautifully placed throw for a 29-yard touchdown to tie the game at 10 heading into the second half.
GOING FOR IT ALL!@Rudolph2Mason ➡️ @Juiceup__3 pic.twitter.com/4d4FdDSpnn
— Pittsburgh Steelers (@steelers) December 22, 2019
The second half of this matchup was a defensive showdown with significant injuries being the Achilles heel for Pittsburgh. Mason Rudolph, center Maurkice Pouncey, and running back James Conner were unfortunately ruled out for all or most of the second half which deflated the Steelers hopes at coming out on top of this matchup.
Backup center B.J. Finney looked rusty, snapping bad balls as well as stepping on Rudolph's foot which was the exact play that got the quarterback injured as he fell to the turf and took a brutal hit as defensive pressure blew the play up.
A pair of Jets field goals eventually were enough to seal the deal for New York as the Steelers stagnant offense couldn't get anything going with Duck Hodges under center for Pittsburgh. The Steelers playoff hopes dwindle down drastically with this 16 to 10 loss in a game in which a win was very much attainable.
If Pittsburgh's offense were anywhere near up to par with their superb defense, the Steelers may have had a playoff berth locked up weeks ago. Fortunately for Pittsburgh, it's likely their matchup next week with Baltimore could be against all of the Ravens bench players with their playoff picture very much solidified.
Steelers Stat Leaders
Mason Rudolph 14 for 20 129 Yards 1 Touchdown
James Conner 6 Rushes 32 Yards
Diontae Johnson 8 Catches 81 Yards 1 Touchdown
Bud Dupree 7 Tackles 1 Sack
Mike Hilton 8 Tackles
