Halicke: Amazing what competent quarterback play can do, huh?

Mason Rudolph gave fans an early Christmas gift. The longest-tenured quarterback on the roster, who hadn't started an NFL game in more than two calendar years, was a critical part of the Steelers' 34-11 victory over the Bengals on Saturday night, keeping their playoff hopes alive. 

It wasn't just the performance of the season, but also the best story we've seen this season.

Rudolph deserves a lot of credit. And, when watching his postgame press conference, you just can't help but feel happy for this guy. He's been through some dark times, and it sure looked like his performance Saturday evening exorcised some demons.

All of that being said, strictly from an Xs and Os perspective, what Rudolph did was not a Christmas miracle. Nothing of the sort. What he actually gave the Steelers is something we've seen maybe once over the past two seasons in a full, four-quarter performance: Competent quarterback play.

Rudolph's first pass of the game didn't require a Patrick Mahomes-esque highlight throw. He read the defense, hit his receiver in stride and got an 86-yard house call out of it:

George Pickens is Rudolph's first read. He sees the man coverage there and knows Pickens has a good chance of beating his defender out of the Slant/Flat concept. But, really watch how Rudolph throws with anticipation here. The ball is out while Pickens is still covered up by the defender going to cover Connor Heyward in the flat. He doesn't wait to see Pickens open. He knows Pickens will be open by the time the ball gets there. 

That's something that's been missing far too often with Kenny Pickett and was pretty much nonexistent with Mitch Trubisky. When quarterbacks make competent throws to highly-skilled receivers in space and on the run, they can make big plays happen. Pickett's done it at times, but not nearly consistent enough.

Rudolph did quite a bit of this tonight. When his first read was there, he threw with anticipation and hit his receivers at the most advantageous moments. What really elevates quarterback play -- and it's something that's really been missing from Steelers' signal callers for the past two seasons -- is poise from the pocket:

Again, this is not an Earth-shattering, position-altering play. This is, not to beat the horse to death here, competent play from inside the pocket. The reads aren't open. Rudolph doesn't panic. He doesn't get happy feet. He stands tall in the pocket, keeps his eyes up, finds his checkdown, hits him and lets Jaylen Warren do the rest.

It's beyond frustrating to see this offense struggle with these type of solutions week after week after week. I wrote last week about how the system and coaching doesn't give the quarterback these options nearly enough. But, it's also on the quarterback to do basic things like keeping their eyes up when pressure is collapsing on them. We've seen Pickett, and even Trubisky, have their eyes go straight down to the rush when they feel the pressure. At that point, way more often than not, the play is dead. Rudolph shows here what happens when the quarterback keeps his eyes up and finds answers out of plays when the defense wins the matchup on the first and/or second read.

Of course, Rudolph showed off that big arm of his in this game, giving the Steelers' very talented receivers opportunities to make big plays down the field:

Remember when everyone, myself included, crucified the Steelers' coaching staff for calling a deep ball on fourth-and-2? Well, this is third-and-1. It's a possession down. And the Steelers call something similar against a coverage (Cover 1) that can be exploited on a deep pass. What's the difference? A pass that actually gave the receiver a chance to make a play. 

Execution of a play will most often trump an iffy play call. I've also written on this site about players missing plays that were available. Yes, Matt Canada and others coaching this offense have deserved a lot of criticism. But, when players execute plays, a lot of those issues can be covered up. The most impactful execution is the quarterback making good throws, and Rudolph did plenty of that tonight.

No, he wasn't perfect. He missed this one to Diontae Johnson early in the fourth quarter ...

... and he lamented over that one after the game. I mean, Johnson beat the pants of Mike Hilton on that route. That would have easily been a touchdown. But, that miss didn't hurt the Steelers at all because he had already executed a few big throws downfield that either directly or eventually led to touchdowns.

I mean this sincerely: Good for Mason Rudolph. Cannot help but be so happy for the guy. He's taken everything like a pro, despite not being wanted by anyone other than the Steelers as a No. 3 quarterback after testing free agency. And when he finally gets his chance to shine, he put up arguably the best 60-minute performance by a Steelers quarterback since Ben Roethlisberger retired.

And, to really drive this home, he didn't have to be a miracle worker. Oh yes, everyone is going to have fun with Rudolph bringing Pittsburgh an early Christmas present. The more puns, the merrier. But, he accomplished this by simply doing his job. He executed the plays that were called at an NFL level. It's amazing that something so simple is exactly what the Steelers needed, at least for this game against the Bengals.

Should Rudolph get the start next week in Seattle, I'll be most curious to see what he does for an encore.