4 takeaways from Steelers 22-24 loss against the Browns

The Steelers nearly defeated the Cleveland Browns in Week 17. Here are four things we learned from the loss.

The Steelers may have lost their Week 17 game against the Cleveland Browns, but that doesn’t mean that things didn’t go at least somewhat according to plans. Obviously, Mike Tomlin didn’t view this game as crucial as he elected to rest a number of his starters against Cleveland, including quarterback Ben Roethlisberger and Defensive Player of the Year candidate, T.J. Watt.

While we didn’t have high expectations for the Steelers heading into this game, fans have to be impressed with the performance Pittsburgh put up to close out the season. In a comeback effort, Mike Tomlin’s team nearly rallied to tie the game with under two minutes to go in the fourth quarter. Eventually, the Steelers would lose, 22-24, but there were some positive things to note from this contest. Here are four things we learned from the loss to the Browns:

Mason Rudolph showed some promise

Somewhat surprisingly, quarterback Mason Rudolph had an impressive game against Cleveland filling in for Roethlisberger this week. He averaged more yards per attempt than Ben has since his Week 14 performance in 2018 while passing for 315 yards and two touchdowns. Though Rudolph missed on a number of deep balls and threw an interception that ended up costing Pittsburgh, it was encouraging to see him look down the field.

Though Rudolph did give Steelers some level of confidence in him if Roethlisberger were to go down, he still doesn’t have the tools we would hope for in a future franchise passer, as he lacks mobility and escapability within the pocket. Still, Rudolph is starting to show that he could be a long-time capable backup in the NFL.