Results of Steelers game could have been much worse than a loss for Pittsburgh

The Steelers may have lost their fourth game in their last five contests, but the outcome could have been significantly worse for Pittsburgh.

The Pittsburgh Steelers lost to the Ravens in heartbreak fashion this week. After facing adversity all season since losing Super Bowl-winning quarterback, Ben Roethlisberger, in week one, Mike Tomlin’s team had a chance to close out a win against the Ravens.

Though the Steelers were in the process of driving down the field for a game-winning score in overtime against one of their most heated rivals, a fumble ultimately cost them the game.

This loss marked the 4th in just 5 games this season, and their 8th loss in their last 11 contests dating back to the 2018 season. Despite all of this turmoil, the results of Sunday’s contest against the Ravens could have been much worse than just another game they failed to close out.

If you watched the game, or have been on Twitter since Pittsburgh’s Sunday afternoon, you know exactly what I am referring to.

Midway through the third quarter, the Steelers were driving down the field against Baltimore. Pittsburgh needed a third-down conversion to keep the chains moving. As Mason Rudolph rolled out to his left, he delivered a beautiful pass on target to James Washington.

Fans were roaring about the big play Rudolph made, but just moments later, we saw him lying motionless on the field. Mason Rudolph took a massive shot under the chin from Ravens’ safety, Earl Thomas. The result was hard to watch, as Rudolph was knocked unconscious and flopped lifelessly to the ground.

In a moment’s time, a million thoughts ran through the heads of a million fans. We have seen this kind of thing before. In 2017, Ryan Shazier made a tackle with the crown of his helmet and suffered permanent spinal damage in an instant.

The severity of Rudolph’s injury was unknown at the time, and I feared the worst. Teammates hovered over the unmoving quarterback, and JuJu Smith-Schuster was crawling next to him in tears.

Thankfully, Rudolph was able to regain consciousness, and he eventually made his way off the field with assistance. The harsh reality of the NFL is that a player’s career could be over in the blink of an eye. More importantly, their long-term health and quality of life could change in one hit like the one Rudolph suffered on Sunday.

The Steelers may have lost against a division rival and dropped to 1-4 on the season. But that hit on Mason Rudolph helped us realized that the results could have been much worse in this contest. Let’s hope Rudolph has a speedy recovery moving forward.