After weeks — even months — of speculation, one thing became overwhelmingly obvious on Saturday night at Heinz Field.
In the eyes of Mike Tomlin and the Steelers, the backup quarterback battle that has been debated over to a near-nauseating level apparently doesn't really exist.
Mason Rudolph came in for Ben Roethlisberger — who slung two touchdowns to rookie tight end Pat Freiermuth — and continued his efficiently impressive, yet semi-fruitless preseason, as the Steelers held on to beat the Lions, 26-20, in the dress rehearsal for the regular season.
Following Roethlisberger's three series, Rudolph got every snap with the first-team offense, and Haskins was left with only two drives while much of the 45,374 black-and-gold clad faithful headed for the exits.
So far this preseason, Haskins has not played a single in-game snap with the top offensive unit.
"I think both guys have handled themselves well," said a tight-lipped Tomlin after the game.
It's not that Rudolph has been bad in the preseason. He's completed 75 percent of his passes and hasn't thrown an interception.
It's just that putting the ball into the endzone seems like a foreign concept to the fourth-year signal caller. Rudolph has yet to lead a touchdown drive in this preseason.
"Stats can be deceiving sometimes," he said. "You play better than the stat line or you play worse than the stat line.
"I'm confident in our head coach and general manager and people to evaluate the games… I've felt good. Getting some points on the board tonight obviously feels good. We'd like to get seven (points) and not three."
Rudolph has now led touchdown drives in just six of his last 78 drives under center, dating back to the 2019 season. But he did push the Steelers down the field, resulting in three field goals from Chris Boswell. And he nearly found JuJu Smith-Schuster in the end zone for a diving touchdown catch.
But 'nearly' isn't good enough. Rudolph has orchestrated preseason series ending in just those nine points. And that is below what you would think the Steelers should expect from an experienced quarterback.
Haskins, on the other hand, has led Pittsburgh to 36 points, albeit with and against second and third string players.
But Rudolph, when pressed about being challenged by Haskins this offseason and preseason, didn't seem to feel that was the case necessarily.
"I think, um, I've said before, I don't really put a whole lot of emphasis into a depth chart," he said, somewhat reluctantly. "I'm trying to better myself each and every day."
Haskins did not speak with the media after the game. In his first drive, he led the Steelers to a field goal. In his next series, with less than two minutes to play, he was able to successfully run out thee clock to preserve the win.
It's unlikely many starters will play in the Steelers' final preseason game Friday night in Carolina. So any hope of seeing what Haskins can do with the first-team offense sailed away Saturday night.
