Jets 16 - Steelers 10

Random thoughts on the Steelers woeful loss yesterday to the Woeful Jets......

• That loss effectively ended the Steelers hopes of making the playoffs in 2019.  Yeah, I know that they can still get there, but too many things have to happen for them to nail down that last wild card spot, beginning with them beating the Ravens next week, and do you really think that THAT is going to happen?
• Given the state of the Steelers offense, I'm almost - almost! - glad that they won't be in the Playoffs.  That wasn't going to lead to a pretty ending.

• The Devlin "Duck" Hodges story was a fun one to follow as he was somehow leading the Steelers to victories, but, as I knew was going to happen, the League caught up with the Duck beginning with the Bills last week and continuing with the Jets yesterday.  When you watched Hodges play, you just knew that he just wasn't that good, and now the chickens, or in this case, the ducks, have come home to roost.
• Still, Hodges has some stories to tell for the rest of his life.  There are not a whole lot of people in the universe who have played quarterback and won games in the National Football League, so good for him.
• If you spent a lot of money, or even a little bit of money, on the goofy duck hats and duck suits to sit in the stands at Heinz Field so you can get in television, how silly do you feel today?

• One thing that that game proved to me yesterday was that it is way too early to give up on Mason Rudolph becoming a good NFL quarterback, and possibly even an eventual replacement for Ben Roethlisberger. That pass to Diontae Johnson for a touchdown yesterday was a thing of beauty, and one that Hodges on his best day could not have made.
• I have written many times of James Conner in this Blog.  He is a talented football player, and his story is an inspirational one.  He will always be one of my favorite Pittsburgh athletes, but he has shown that he is unable to stay on the field because of his propensity to injury.  Durability as a skill every bit as much as speed or the ability to catch a pass, and Conner just doesn't have it.  One wonders if all of the chemo and radiation treatments that he had endure five years ago have contributed to his being so susceptible to injury.
• As a result, one of the Steelers top needs in the off season will be drafting or signing a reliable and good running back.
• I wonder what the NFL record is for completed passes that resulted in gains of five yards or less.  Surely, these '19 Steelers have to be challenging for that record.
• After that awful 1-4 start, the Steelers proceeded to win seven of their next eight games  and that made it exciting for a while before reality struck these past two weeks.  In retrospect, however, the Steelers season really ended for all practical purposes at this moment in Week 2 against Seattle when Big Ben went into the locker room in the second quarter with the elbow injury that would end his season.

Because tonight's MNF game between the Packers and Vikings is a game of consequence, the release of the Grandstander Power Rankings will be delayed until tomorrow.