Mason Rudolph may have lost his first career start, but he won the postgame press conference. Rudolph, fresh after throwing two second-half touchdown passes in Pittsburgh's 24-20 road loss to the still undefeated San Francisco 49ers, said everything a starting NFL quarterback should say following a disappointing defeat. 

"We just came out slow and I'm more to blame than anyone," said Rudolph, who went 14-of-27 for 174 yards in his first NFL start. "Those possession downs, those third downs, gotta convert … I gotta be better in those situations and give our teams chances to extend drives." 

Rudolph was specifically addressing the offense's inability to take full advantage of the four turnovers its defense recorded in the game's first 30 minutes. The Steelers were only able to generate six points off of those turnovers while missing a golden chance at taking a big lead early. 

"We got turnovers in the first half, we settled for field goals," Steelers head coach Mike Tomlin said after the game. "They got turnovers in the second half and scored touchdowns, thus the difference in the game." 

The Steelers took a 6-3 lead into the dressing room despite generating just 76 total yards in the first half. The 49ers, conversely, gained over 200 yards but were stymied by two interceptions and two red zone fumbles that were recovered by Pittsburgh rookie inside linebacker Devin Bush, who now has three fumble recoveries in his first three NFL games. Free safety Minkah Fitzpatrick, acquired via a trade with the Dolphins, recorded a pick and a forced fumble while showing why the Steelers gave up next year's first-round pick for his services. 

But despite the turnovers, the Steelers couldn't distance themselves from the 49ers, punting on each of their final three drives of the half. 

"I told Cam [Heyward], 'That game's on us,'" Rudolph said. "We had so many opportunities with the turnovers in the first half and the momentum swing on defense, we gotta put more points on the board for [the defense]."

The second half was a different story. Pittsburgh's starting coughing the ball up, starting with Rudolph's interception on the first possession of the first half. The Steelers' defense, bend but not break in the first half, broke after both of the offense's second-half turnovers. They also allowed a touchdown immediately following Pittsburgh's first touchdown of the game. 

"When you get 'em down, you gotta work in concert as a football team," Tomlin said of his team's inability to pull away from San Francisco. "They worked in better concert than we did. When we put their defense on a short field in the first half, they made us settle for three. When our defense was on a short field in the second half, they got touchdowns. So that's all of us, collectively, as a football team. We didn't do enough today to win it. We didn't do enough today in concert to eventuate the positive. We didn't work in concert well enough to minimize the negative." 

The Steelers' offense did respond following the 49ers' first touchdown of the second half. Facing a third and four at his own 24, Rudolph hit JuJu Smith-Schuster on a crossing route that JuJu turned into a 76-yard touchdown pass. The catch, Smith-Schuster's only reception of the second half, gave the Steelers a 13-10 lead with 5:42 left in the third quarter. 

After the 49ers immediately regained the lead, both teams traded punts before Pittsburgh took over at their own 19 with 11:10 remaining in the game. After a deep pass to receiver James Washington drew a pass interference penalty, Rudolph hit rookie receiver Diontae Johnson for a 39-yard touchdown reception, giving Pittsburgh a 20-17 lead with 10:22 left. Rudolph, seeing his mismatch, went after 49ers' reserve cornerback Jason Verrett, who had just entered the game after starter Ahkello Witherspoon went out with an injury. 

Pittsburgh's offense, despite its signs of improvement, was unable to help seal the deal after the Steelers recovered their third fumble of the game inside their own 10-yard-line with 6:49 left. After a catch and a carry by running back James Conner gave Pittsburgh a first down with 5:29 left, Conner's fumble on the Steelers' third play of the drive set up the 49ers' game-winning touchdown, a 5-yard throw from Jimmy Garoppolo to Dante Pettis with 1:15 left. 

Rudolph and the Steelers' offense was unable to mount a last-minute comeback, with Rudolph's final fourth down attempt to Washington falling harmlessly to the turf. 

"I wanna watch the film, but a lot of mistakes," Rudolph said when asked to assess his first career start. "Obviously, we can't be that slow starting in the first half. I gotta give our team and our defense more of a chance to put some points up early and get ahead. With all the turnovers they created, they played unbelievable and they did everything coached asked of them through the week, creating turnovers and flying around. We just gotta back them up. We gotta have their back."

Collectively, the Steelers spoke like a team that still believes in itself despite it's 0-3 start to the season. After their Week 1 debacle in New England, Pittsburgh has played well enough to win their past two games but have come up short in both contests. The last two games are similar to how the Steelers failed to close out games at the end of the 2018 season, as Pittsburgh finished last year with four losses in their last six games, with each game essentially coming down to the final drive. 

The Steelers, for various reasons, failed to come up with the game-winning plays then. This year, for reasons both old and new, they're failing to come up with the game-winning plays this season as well. 

Rudolph pointed to Pittsburgh's lack of success on third down as a major reason why the Steelers are where they are: in a place with Cincinnati -- next week's opponent -- for last place in the AFC North after three weeks. 

The Steelers, through three games, are 9 of 33 on third downs. Their opponents are 18 of 37 on third down. 

"Those possession downs, those third downs, [you] gotta convert," Rudolph said. "I gotta be better in those situations and give our teams chances to extend drives." 

The Steelers, on both sides of the ball, should improve in that department as the season moves along. Pittsburgh's defense, with Fitzpatrick now in the fold, should be able to do a better job at getting off the field, something they struggled with on Sunday. The defense will also improve by virtue of the offense taking more steps in the right direction. A well-rested defense performs better than one that is back on the field after just three plays. 

Speaking of the offense, Pittsburgh's passing attack suffered a hit Sunday when tight end Vance McDonald left the game with an injury during the first half. With McDonald out, and with receiver Donte Moncrief inactive, Rudolph was left to throw to a double-teamed Smith-Schuster (who was also covered throughout the game by Richard Sherman, who is still one of the game's best corners), Johnson and Washington. While this trio could be one of the NFL's better ones by season's end, their youth and inexperience is one reason why the Steelers' offense wasn't able to do more with their opportunities on Sunday. 

The Steelers also failed to utilize their running backs in the passing game, something that has become a trademark of Pittsburgh's offense over the past half decade. Conner managed just 14 receiving yards on Sunday, while fellow running back Jaylen Samuels, who caught three touchdown passes last season, didn't receive a single catch or carry on Sunday. Speaking of Conner, he is averaging just 2.9 yards per carry through three games and hasn't had a 100-yard game since Week 10 of the 2018 season. His fumble late in Sunday's game called to mind his Week 1 fumble last season that sparked the Cleveland Browns' second-half comeback in a game that resulted in a tie after Pittsburgh led 21-7. 

"They were overloading the box a little bit, and we had some RPOs and some ways to kind of combat that when they tried to pack in the box," Rudolph said when discussing Pittsburgh's struggles running the ball. "I can't really say till I watch the film again, but I'd say our offensive line did a great job of protection all day, and James was running the ball really hard. A couple of those runs were unbelievable effort runs. You thought he was down, and he kept fighting and kept moving the ball." 

While he looked like a first year starter, Rudolph, both during as well as after Sunday's game, flashed the maturity and potential that the Steelers continue to see in him after reportedly giving him a first round grade leading up to the 2018 draft. After shaking off his early rust, Rudolph played well enough for the Steelers to win. And if he continues to show this type of progression moving forward, Pittsburgh will start winning some of the close games they've been losing since the second half of the 2018 season.  

Rudolph's postgame press conference also revealed the character a young quarterback needs during the grind and marathon of a 16-game regular season. Like Ben Roethlisberger, the quarterback he is replacing this season, Rudolph accepted blame for the loss. And, also like Big Ben, Rudolph didn't blink when asked how he tries to keep his teammates' faith in him heading into this week. 

"They know who I am, they know how I work, they know my love of the game, so that's not the issue," he said. "It's just a gonna be a matter of getting back to work and going through another work week, moving onto Cincinnati, getting a good plan in place and getting in the win column."

Rudolph also added that, despite Pittsburgh's winless start, no one inside the Steelers' locker room is hitting the panic button. Despite their current record, the Steelers are just two games behind the Ravens in the win column after all four AFC North teams lost on Sunday. Pittsburgh can get to 1-0 in the North if they are able to beat the also winless Bengals next Monday night, which will also be Rudolph's first career home start. 

"We had a little bit of a slow start last year," Rudolph said. "Every game, whether you're 2-0 or 0-2 going into this game, every game's critical, whether it's division or outside of the division. That's how I treat it. Obviously, 0-3 start, we're gonna put the pressure on ourselves to go and compete. We're not gonna need to hear anything from the coaches. Those guys in the locker room are self starters and they're gonna wanna rally together to start tomorrow and get back to work."