Rudolph-Haskins battle to be No. 2: Draw in opener
I’m tempted to say this exhibition opener meant nothing. In many ways it meant less than that. All you need to know is that Joe Buck lost track of the downs in the first quarter.
“The game is already getting away from us,” Buck joked on the Fox broadcast.
It meant something to the players, though. Start with the Steelers quarterbacks. This was Round 1 of The Battle Behind Ben, and you better believe every snap Mason Rudolph and Dwayne Haskins take will be scrutinized like crazy.
Those two are fighting not only for the backup job this season — which is Rudolph’s to lose — but maybe for the right to replace Ben Roethlisberger as the Steelers’ next starter.
If indeed this was Round 1, call it a draw. Neither advanced his cause in any special way. Neither lost ground. Rudolph had the best
pass of the night (at least until Josh Dobbs took a big hit on a touchdown throw) and the worst play but also had the first-team receivers with him. Haskins was stuck with a lot of guys you’ve never heard of and never will.
I feel like Rudolph played OK. I always feel like Rudolph plays OK. He does some good things. He does some bad things. And he leaves me wanting more. He played the majority of the first half and went 6 for 9 for 84 yards and a 96.5 passer rating. One of the incompletions was a Chase Claypool drop. The Steelers did not reach the end zone.
Rudolph made a great throw down the right sideline to Claypool for a 29-yard gain. He also lost a fumble with nobody around him and badly missed James Washington on a third-down play, throwing behind him on what might have been a first down. That was his final throw of the night.
Haskins, seemingly the fan favorite in this fight on account of his tantalizing talent, came on with about four minutes left in the first half.
“They think he’s got a chance to really propel himself into a star role,” Buck said.
Haskins was just OK, too. On his first pass, he hit RayRay McCloud on a quick hitter for a first down. Next came a Washington drop, followed by Haskins taking off and running for a first down.
Early in the second half, Haskins missed a chance for a touchdown when he underthrew tight end Kevin Rader at the goal line. He also failed to connect on a deep ball with somebody named Isaiah McCoy and saw a pass dropped by somebody named Marcus Baugh.
Mostly, Haskins stayed in control, maybe too much so, often using his check-downs. He finished 8 for 13 for 54 yards and a 70.7 rating.
I guess we’ll have to wait for Round 2 for any fireworks.
Other tidbits from the first football game of the year …
• Alex Highsmith was an absolute beast, wearing that No. 56 like he was LaMarr Woodley in a playoff game (did you know Woodley had 11 sacks in eight career playoff games?). On the Cowboys’ first possession, after Rudolph’s fumble, Highsmith spun around left tackle Ty Nsekhe and tossed quarterback Garrett Gilbert to the turf. On the very next play, Highsmith’s pressure nearly forced an interception.
Nobody will confuse Nsekhe with Orlando Pace, but he’s a seven-year vet who has started 17 games. I’m gonna make a bet right here: Highsmith will finish with more sacks than Bud Dupree in Tennessee this season. You like it?
• Peyton Manning had a prediction you’ll like. During an interview on the broadcast, he said he spoke with Roethlisberger before the game, said Roethlisberger spoke of “adjusting some things” and finished with this: “I can see Ben having a big year this year.”
• Chase Claypool has been dropping too many passes in camp, and he dropped another one on a third-down play in the first quarter. It looked like he was trying to avoid a hit, but he got smashed anyway, so he might as well have caught it. Troy Aikman put some of the blame on Rudolph, saying “Rudolph could have made it a lot easier if he puts it on him,” and I get that. It wasn’t a perfect pass. But it did hit the guy in the hands.
• Claypool came back with a wonderful 29-yard catch down the left sideline, laying out to catch it.
• Bill Cowher looks genuinely happy these days. You could see it in his eyes as he spoke with Tom Rinaldi and told the story of leaving Mike Tomlin an Iron City beer when Cowher left his office for the final time (he said Tomlin still has it and will leave it for the next guy). I’m glad Cowher, 64, quit coaching when he did and found out what life on the outside of that crucible can be, and I’ll bet he’s glad he quit, too.
• It was fun to see Cowher and Tomlin on the sideline together — during the game — sharing a laugh. That job in this town brings all kinds of scrutiny, some of it ridiculous and downright cruel, but the bottom line with these two is that they’ve won the vast majority of their games.
• Najee Harris showed some of what everyone’s been talking about in camp — power, elusiveness, patience. He finished with 22 yards on seven carries and one catch for three, and if you ask me, 10 touches in a game like this is a bit much. Didn’t love Harris taking hits all the way into the second quarter.
• I feel fairly confident saying Cowboys great Drew Pearson will deliver a memorable Hall of Fame speech. In his interview with Rinaldi, the extremely excitable Pearson repeatedly spiced up his answers with “Hut hut!”