The Pittsburgh Steelers had one of their worst offensive showings during Sunday’s loss to the Bills. Here’s why Devlin Hodges is largely to blame.
It’s hard not to get on the Devlin Hodges bandwagon. After being the fourth quarterback on the Steelers roster this August, the undrafted quarterback eventually found himself in a starting role. Though he began his career with a 3-0 record, he should be taking the weight of the loss on his shoulders after a disastrous performance against the Buffalo Bills on Sunday Night Football.
Hodges admittedly hasn’t had a lot to work with. JuJu Smith-Schuster has missed the last month of play due to a concussion and a nagging knee injury, while James Conner was eased back into action after on Sunday a shoulder injury that caused him to miss 5 games this season.
However, with perhaps the league’s most talented defense, Hodges is only being asked to put up a few scores to win the game. But the rookie couldn’t manage this against Buffalo’s tough defensive unit on Sunday night.
In the first half of the game, Pittsburgh’s offense couldn’t move the ball, and they were nearly doubled in time of possession in the opening quarter. Randy Fichtner’s group managed just 3 points in the first half of play.
Things started looking up in the second half. The Steelers opened the third quarter with a 7 play, 69-yard touchdown drive to take a 10-7 lead. However, their offensive success was short-lived.
After an interception on a poor pass intended for James Washington in the first half, Hodges looked even worse down the stretch – tossing three more picks (including the game-ending interception in the endzone). The quarterback also seemed careless in the pocket – taking 4 sacks and fumbling once.
With such a dud of a performance in a desperate time of need, don’t be surprised to hear Mason Rudolph’s name thrown back into the conversation at quarterback next week. While I still think it is unlikely at this point, the Steelers can ill-afford another dreadful offensive performance like the one they experienced this week.
We can point fingers elsewhere if we would like, but the fact of the matter is that football is a sport that lives and dies by the quarterback position. While James Washington caught every decent ball thrown his way, James Conner rushed for 5.3 yards per attempt, and the defense allowed just 139 passing yards to Josh Allen, the Steelers can only go as far as their quarterback will take them.
The playoffs are just around the corner, and Pittsburgh is far from a lock at this point. They will need two respectable offensive performances against the Jets and Ravens if they want to guarantee themselves a shot at playing in the tournament this year. Whoever is slinging the ball next week, let’s hope he is up to the challenge.