Rudolph and his Longest NFL TD Pass Headline Pokes Reunion with Pitt.-at-Balt.
STILLWATER – Four former Oklahoma State players is a lot in one NFL game and on Saturday in cold and very rainy Baltimore and M&T Bank Stadium there were four former Cowboys battling as Pittsburgh was looking to stay alive for the NFL playoffs against their archrival in the division in the Ravens.
"It was probably the most challenging weather I've had to deal with," Mason Rudolph said after the game, his third in a row to start at quarterback for the Steelers.
The Ravens were playing a lot of backups as they had clinched the top seed, which includes a bye next week and homefield advantage throughout the AFC side of the Super Bowl bracket. That meant more playing time than just returning punts for Tylan Wallace. Wallace had one catch for 11-yards. Justice Hill rotates in at running back and he had three receptions for 26-yards.
Pittsburgh needed the win and on the first play of the fourth quarter Rudolph, who finished an amazing (based on the weather) 18-of-20 passing for 152-yards and a touchdown broke the 7-7 tie when he hit Dionate Johnson on a intermediate slant that Johnson sped away to turn into a 71-yard touchdown. The Steelers led 14-7 and won the game 17-10 to put them in the playoffs in conjunction with either a Jacksonville loss on Sunday at Tennessee or a Buffalo loss in Miami on the Sunday night game on NBC.
"They took Pat (Freiermuth) away," said Rudolph talking about the touchdown. "They were doing a good job of dropping a defensive lineman or hugging him with a linebacker. Dionate (Johnson) was a big part of the read. They took Pat away and I went to him."
The other Oklahoma State player in the game was Steelers running back Jaylen Warren, who had 33-yards rushing on nine carries.
The entire group of former OSU Cowboys gathered for a picture after the game.