Mark Madden: Horrific 'Duck' Hodges killed Steelers' season

The “Duck” era has concluded. Or should that be “Duck” error?

Once it got to that point, the Steelers had no choice (or chance).

The team’s season was dead the minute Ben Roethlisberger got hurt — and not just because they lost a two-time Super Bowl champion, a nailed-on Hall-of-Famer and a quarterback who threw for 5,129 yards in 2018.

The Steelers’ season was also dead because they had woefully inadequate cover for Roethlisberger.

Neither Hodges nor Mason Rudolph had thrown an NFL pass before this campaign. If the Steelers fancied themselves a playoff team, leaving their depth chart in that state at football’s most important position was absurd.

At least Rudolph has a legitimate NFL arm and decent pedigree as a third-round pick. He was playing OK until disaster struck on several levels Nov. 14 at Cleveland. Rudolph was rattled. The Steelers were rattled.

That prefaced the death rattle in the person of Hodges and his popgun arm.

Guts and adrenaline carried Hodges for a bit. But it’s not unfair to say horrific quarterbacking was the primary reason the Steelers lost their last three games.

Hodges was simply terrible in those defeats. He’s the worst quarterback in the NFL. He’s the worst QB I’ve ever seen play for the Steelers.

The Steelers had the NFL’s worst offense. Offensive coordinator Randy Fichtner is the fans’ scapegoat. That’s silly. Coaching can’t fix everything. Fichtner couldn’t fix Hodges.

Hodges’ passer ratings in the Steelers’ last three losses were 43.9, 37.0 and 47.9. He threw one touchdown and six interceptions in those games. He didn’t crack 100 yards passing in either of the last two games. How do you fix that? Coach Mike Tomlin famously said that Hodges “won’t kill us.” But Hodges did.

It took a while for the citizens to smell “Duck’s” stench because they were hypnotized by “Duck” hats, “Duck” calls and “Duck” T-shirts. Without that folksy nickname, Hodges’ brand dies a lot sooner.

Now it’s decomposing. Hodges never will play another snap in the NFL.

The Steelers have several offseason moves to make. Signing a proven veteran backup quarterback is one. They can’t risk being in the same situation again.

The Steelers shouldn’t sign Bud Dupree long-term for big money. One good season in five hasn’t convinced me.

But franchising Dupree would allow the Steelers’ defense to go into next season intact save the probable loss of Javon Hargrave to free agency. That would make it easier for management to concentrate on patching up the offense.

The Steelers will reconfigure their offensive line thusly: Ramon Foster is out. Matt Feiler moves from right tackle to left guard. Either Zach Banner or Chuks Okorafor starts at right tackle. Free agent B.J. Finney goes to a team where they cling to the crazy notion that if you’re good enough, you start. Everything else along the line is status quo.

Will that line be good enough? Well, it can’t be much worse. The offensive line’s failure was shocking.

Tight end and running back should be the draft priorities. Vance McDonald and James Conner were both duds this season and can’t be trusted to have impact.

If Roethlisberger returns at near 100 percent, the receiving corps will be good enough. Diontae Johnson will follow a solid rookie season by evolving into the Steelers’ No. 1 receiver. This was a lost year for JuJu Smith-Kardashian. He caught 69 fewer balls than last year, had crucial drops and fumbles and wore the boo-boo face as often as not.

Sure, Smith-Kardashian’s performance suffered because of the quarterback quandary. But that somehow affected Johnson and James Washington far less.

The defense can be counted on to be stout. But it can’t be counted on for 38 takeaways. It had just 15 in 2018.

The defense didn’t get 23 more takeaways based solely on acquiring Minkah Fitzpatrick. There’s a lot of luck involved. Talent maximizes luck, certainly, but it’s not reasonable to expect the Steelers to get 38 takeaways in 2020. (Let’s hope they commit less than 30 next season. That total was fifth-most in the NFL.)

Fitzpatrick is a microcosm of the random nature of takeaways. In his first seven games as a Steeler, he was involved in seven takeaways. In his next seven, he got just one.

The Steelers’ success next season depends on Roethlisberger. Like always.

But no matter how far injuries at the quarterback position trickle down in 2020, the Steelers must avail themselves of a better alternative than Hodges. A good story didn’t just go bad, it became embarrassing. Where have you gone, Landry Jones?

I re-read this story wondering if my criticism of Hodges was too strong. I concluded it couldn’t possibly be strong enough. Hodges’ defenders say he was put in an impossible situation. But it was his meager talent that made the situation impossible.