Mark Madden: Mason Rudolph saved the Steelers' season

Even if the Pittsburgh Steelers’ wild-card game at Buffalo ends their season, at least we get to witness two great quarterbacks go toe-to-toe.

In the blue and red corner, Josh Allen.

He’s not afraid to throw an interception. He takes chances and reaps reward. Big man. Big arm. Twenty-nine touchdown passes, fifth most in the NFL. Eighteen picks, second most in the NFL. He has passed for 4,306 yards, rushed for 524 yards and 15 touchdowns, one fewer than the entire Steelers rushing attack.

In the black and gold corner, Mason Rudolph.

He’s not deep and risky as often as Allen but isn’t paralyzed by fear like Kenny Pickett, the Steelers’ erstwhile starter.

Rudolph’s passer rating in each of his three starts this season topped 100 and was higher than Pickett achieved in any of his 24 career starts. Rudolph hasn’t thrown any interceptions in his three starts. He completed 18 of 20 passes in awful weather at Baltimore this past Saturday, setting the Steelers’ single-game record for completion percentage at .900.

Rudolph is the Steelers’ MVP. He got them to the playoffs nearly single-handedly. (Give the running game props, too.)

Can Rudolph beat Allen? Probably not.

Will Rudolph be the Steelers’ starter next season or at least get a chance to compete for the job? Absolutely not. (Unless he wins at Buffalo. Even then, likely not.)

But Rudolph already has done enough to earn a new contract at season’s end, with another team if not the Steelers.

Related:

• Madden Monday: Mason Rudolph should start at QB going into '24; Penguins' power play 'abjectly stinks'
• Tim Benz: Steelers' completely unpredictable path to a totally believable regular-season result
• What you need to know about the Steelers’ Wild-Card opponent, the Buffalo Bills

So he’s getting a free roll at Buffalo on Sunday. (That’s assuming Rudolph plays. About 10% of me thinks Mike Tomlin might open his weekly news conference by saying, “Kenny’s our guy, and he’s 100% … ” But that would cause insurrection. Pickett must be absolutely stewing about what’s happened.)

Allen is fun to watch. He doesn’t play like a turnover will give him an STD. Allen can dig a hole, but he can also climb out of it.

Like at Miami on Sunday night, when he threw two first-quarter interceptions but then the winning touchdown with 7 minutes, 16 seconds remaining.

Like all season: The Bills were treading mud at 6-6 going into their Week 13 bye. But they won their last five games to top the AFC East and get the conference’s No. 2 seed.

The Bills have a 2005 Steelers vibe, except their first two playoff games would be at home. They might not stop winning. Here’s betting they get to the Super Bowl.

As for Rudolph, he saved the Steelers’ season.

Tomlin deserves little credit. He lost consecutive home games to 2-10 teams.

If Tomlin inserts Rudolph instead of Mitch Trubisky when Pickett got hurt, the Steelers win at least once more. Week 18 wouldn’t have been so nervy.

If Rudolph had been the starter all season, he might not have sparkled for its entirety like in these last three games. But he would have been better than Pickett, whose play has been an abomination and who will wind up on the scrap heap soon enough.

Rudolph provides the offense with rhythm, threat and precision it hasn’t had since before Ben Roethlisberger hurt his elbow. (Roethlisberger post-elbow couldn’t muster the threat.)

Imagine how Rudolph might be doing had he gotten more than just a smattering of reps since 2019, the last season he played significantly.

The Steelers are heavy underdogs at Buffalo, especially for a playoff game: plus-9.5 points at most recent glance, though Steelers fans will bet that down.

Edge rusher T.J. Watt won’t be playing. That’s a shame. Watt had dodged injuries all season, leading the NFL in sacks for an unprecedented third time.

But Watt’s version of the Steel Curtain always disappears in the playoffs, allowing 42, 48 and 45 points in Watt’s three postseason games. Not that Watt was responsible for the defense collapsing. But he was on the field.

Hopefully Minkah Fitzpatrick plays, and his knee injury permits him a decent degree of effectiveness. Fellow safety Damontae Kazee is done serving time for attempted manslaughter after his hit on the Colts’ Michael Pittman Jr. Markus Golden and Nick Herbig will deputize reasonably for Watt.

If the Steelers don’t win, that’s seven seasons without a playoff victory. Just another year wasted in the mushy middle.

Rudolph has provided intrigue. Even if just for that, Rudolph can’t be appreciated enough. Till Rudolph got the quarterback job, the Steelers’ season was the same old horse manure.