The Steelers’ current playoff run leaves questions about their future.

The Steelers’ current playoff run leaves questions about their future.

That’s probably a wise decision, considering the Pittsburgh Steelers’ tumultuous regular season ends Saturday in Baltimore, and they could clinch a playoff spot that seemed impossible two weeks ago.
After four months of dull and lethargic table tennis, the team still has a lot of work to do, at least in the short term. The Steelers can make the postseason in a number of ways, most of which depend on beating the Ravens (13-3) and getting help from Tennessee or Miami on Sunday.
Regardless of how the weekend goes, given Pittsburgh’s inconsistent play, it’s hard to imagine the Steelers staying in the playoffs for long, even if they make it. That means they have an offseason to reevaluate the most important positions in the standings. team. It’s all thanks to a player who has been thinking about the depth chart for four years.
Rudolph’s solid and at times impressive play provided an unexpected jolt to Pittsburgh’s struggling offense. The Steelers scored 30 points in a row for the first time since 2020. They had 468 yards in Seattle, a feat the franchise had accomplished just once in nine previous tests. Now, the player who wanted to become a free agent in March and wondered if he would be working in commercial real estate until the end of 2024 looks like the guy who will be on an NFL roster this time next year. Maybe even in Pittsburgh. “I love playing for this team and winning games,” Rudolph said Tuesday. “We’ll keep trying.”

Rudolph was able to do what Pickett and Mitch Trubisky failed to do the last two years. At least the Steelers have the upper hand on the field in two games against inferior defenses. The last area with regularity. Quarterback, who first caught the attention of then-Steelers general manager Kevin Colbert when he rushed for 497 yards and five touchdowns at the University of Pittsburgh in a 2017 win over Oklahoma State at Acresure Stadium , averaged 11.1 yards per pass attempt. I do it. After leading the incompetent Trubisky.
Yes, this is a small sample size. But it was emblematic of what Tomlin calls Rudolph’s “calculated risk-taking” approach, an approach that Pickett couldn’t really embrace.
Rudolph’s appearance in two weeks has shifted the focus from issues like Tomlin’s lockout in the locker room and wide receiver George Pickens’ volatile relationship with reporters (and run blocking) to what the Steelers will do at quarterback in 2024. . Tomlin has been Pickett’s biggest supporter since the day Pittsburgh selected the former Pitt star in the first round of the 2022 draft and entered the 2023 season optimistic about Pickett’s development, predicting he would “kill it.”

For several reasons, this did not happen. Pickett has just six interceptions this season, the fewest in the league among any quarterback with at least 300 pass attempts.
Pickett on Tuesday dismissed rumors that he was removed from Rudolph’s backup role in Seattle as he recovers from right ankle surgery, talking instead about starting the season-defining game against his biggest rival. That’s not what the Steelers envisioned in the September preseason, when expectations were high.
These expectations were not met. But Rudolph and the Steelers can find a way inside. It happened before. If that’s the case, Rudolph will likely keep his job and Pittsburgh will enter an offseason that will require an overhaul of the quarterback lineup.
For a team stuck in NFL purgatory (too good to be bad, too bad to be good), the Steelers are never boring. What works

Naji Harris and Jaylen Warren shared the workload. Both running backs have each topped 1,000 yards, giving the Steelers the best 1-2 combination in the league. That he did it without drama is refreshing for a team that saw a season full of him among other position groups.
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Despite injuries to the interior linemen and constant safeties, punts came easily as the defense found ways to keep the score down. The Steelers have given up an average of 353 yards in their last four games and currently face the second-highest scoring offense in the NFL. However, if the Ravens decide to rest for the playoffs, they could be without MVP favorite Lamar Jackson.