It occurs to me that an important detail has been left out of the debate:
The rudder inputs were so violent that the engines ripped off the pylons
.
Again, still not in the habit of defending Brand A, but Boeing uses sheer pins to allow the engines to separate the aircraft in certain extreme circumstances - e.g. rotor seize or a wheels up landing - to avoid more serious damage. For example, the stresses from a high-power rotor seize can potentially fail the wing structure - better to let go of the engine.
If the rudder oscillations are so severe that the engine struts fail, does it really matter much if the vertical tail stays intact? It occurs to me that if the engines have departed the aircraft, you're pretty much guaranteed to have a bad day