Perhaps in part because they had almost nothing to play for, the Pittsburgh Steelers chose to be more aggressive than they have been pushing the ball down the field in the season finale today against the Cleveland Browns.
Although they came up two points short on the scoreboard, it was the success of Mason Rudolph’s deep ball and the play-making abilities of their young wide receivers in Diontae Johnson and Chase Claypool that helped allow them to keep the game close most of the way, and then to close the gap late.
In all, on initial charting, it appears as though Rudolph went four-for-eight on his deep throws of 20 or more yards in the air, including receptions of 41 and 47 yards.