The Pittsburgh Steelers season ended Sunday the way most people believed it would.

Devlin “Duck” Hodges struggled for the third straight game, passing for just 95 yards in a 28-10 loss in Baltimore.

There's a very good chance that it will turn out to be his last game in a Steelers uniform.

If we have seen the last of Duck, it was a small sample size and according to some, included nothing of value.

I listen to a lot of sports talk radio, for better or worse. Over the last few weeks, I've heard a lot of callers criticize Hodges, who was not drafted. Two of the comments that stood out include:

“This guy was dreadful the moment he stepped onto the field.”

“He's done nothing to help the team.”

It's one thing to state an opinion, but when someone makes a statement that is factually wrong while criticizing someone, it's a pet peeve of mine.

Hodges came in for an injured Mason Rudolph against Baltimore in October and started the next week against the Chargers. He played well in both games and his story could have ended there. But Rudolph, who returned from a concussion and played well enough to help Pittsburgh to three straight wins over the Dolphins, Colts and Rams, played horribly in a loss at Cleveland Nov. 14.

After six drives yielded only a field goal the next week against Cincinnati, Hodges replaced Rudolph early in the third quarter. Three plays later, he threw a 79-yard touchdown pass to James Washington and the Steelers won the game.

As good as Pittsburgh's defense was this year, Mike Tomlin knew he needed better quarterback play than Rudolph was providing.

Was the offense still hampered with such an inexperienced signal caller? Absolutely. But the Steelers needed only 16 or 17 points from their offense to win games. Hodges delivered that in wins over the Chargers, Bengals, Browns and Cardinals.

In his first five games, including two relief appearances and three starts, Hodges completed 71 percent of his passes for an average of 170 yards per game with four touchdowns and two interceptions.

Am I missing something? Are those numbers really horrible?

Incidentally, those four scoring passes came in four separate games that the Steelers won by a single score. So the belief that he did nothing to help the team win is ridiculous.

It was in a Week 15 game against Buffalo when Duck began to fly south. The Steelers inexplicably abandoned the blueprint that was established to win games with Hodges under center. He had never thrown more than 21 passes in an NFL game, but was asked to throw 38 times against one of the best defenses in the league.

The result was four interceptions in a 17-10 loss. Why not run the ball more? Pittsburgh gained 45 yards on its first 10 carries, then ran the ball just four times afterward.

I'll remember Hodges as a big reason why the Steelers missed the playoffs due to his play in the last three games. I also see him as a big reason why the team was still in playoff position entering the Buffalo game — not because he came in and threw for 300 yards and four touchdowns every game, but because he did exactly what the team needed him to do, which was take care of the ball and provide a downfield passing threat.

This was the most I've ever followed an undrafted rookie free agent quarterback. Maybe this is how they are treated — magnify the negatives and give the guy absolutely no credit for the plays he makes.

I can't get on board with that.

Derek Pyda is a staff writer for the Butler Eagle