Mason Rudolph has the game of his life Saturday night against the Cincinnati Bengals, leading the Pittsburgh Steelers to a 34-11 win against their AFC North rival to push them to 8-7 on the year and keep their playoff hopes alive. Rudolph made the most of his opportunity starting in-place of Mitch Trubisky who was benched last week, he completed 17-of-27 pass attempts for 290 passing yards and two touchdowns and zero interceptions, connecting with WR George Pickens on long touchdowns of 66 and 86 yards as Pittsburgh poured it on the Bengals’ defense.
Rudolph spoke the the media after the game and expressed his gratitude to get another opportunity to start for Pittsburgh. Rudolph was asked if he thought his performance warranted him getting another opportunity to start next week against the Seattle Seahawks, to which Rudolph kept his thoughts to himself if he should be Pittsburgh’s starting quarterback moving forward.
“You’re asking the wrong person,” Rudolph said to the media on video from Steelers.com. “Listen, we play this game to play. I’d love to play, but that’s out of my hands. I’ll find out the marching orders as we go.”
It was the right response from Rudolph, understanding that he has been Pittsburgh’s third-string quarterback this season behind both Kenny Pickett and Mitch Trubisky. Rudolph managed to get this opportunity due to Pickett unfortunately injuring his ankle against the Arizona Cardinals a few weeks ago, needing to undergo surgery to help him recover quick enough to return yet this season.
Pickett started practicing in a limited basis this week, but was ruled out a few days before Pittsburgh’s game against Cincinnati. However, there is optimism that Pickett could be ready to play as soon as next week against Seattle, potentially making Rudolph’s first start in 2023 his last, despite his strong performance.
Rudolph doesn’t want to create controversy in the locker room as Pickett has been Pittsburgh’s franchise quarterback, knowing his role and his place when it comes being ready to go when his number is called. However, given his performance tonight against Cincinnati, head coach Mike Tomlin should consider rolling with Rudolph another week as the veteran showed out in a must-win game for Pittsburgh, having the team’s best passing performance since Ben Roethlisberger was still playing. Pickett is still recovering from ankle surgery and will have to knock off the rust, likely having his mobility affected should he start next week in Pittsburgh’s road matchup against the Seahawks.
Tomlin will be motivated to go with his franchise quarterback if he’s healthy to play, but he also will be pressured to go with the hot hand who stepped up and delivered a big win for his team that lost three-straight games. Tomlin will have a big decision to make later this week which could likely determine if Rudolph ever sees another start in the Black and Gold again.
