Late in the fourth quarter after throwing his second interception, Pittsburgh Steelers QB Mitch Trubisky was benched for Mason Rudolph, who came into the game for Pittsburgh’s final two drives. Rudolph was unable to get anything going in his limited action, completing 2-of-3 passes for three yards while taking one sack for a loss of 11 yards.
Despite not making much of an impact in his first regular-season snaps in nearly two seasons, former Steelers QB Ben Roethlisberger said that it’d be hard for Pittsburgh to go back to Trubisky after Saturday’s performance. He added that the Steelers almost certainly will go with Rudolph next Saturday against the Cincinnati Bengals if Kenny Pickett isn’t ready to go.
“You can’t bring Mitch in next week now,” Roethlisberger said on Footbahlin, which aired on the show’s YouTube channel. “So next week, if Kenny’s back, I think it will be Kenny. But I think they’ll have to go to Mason. You’re not going back to Mitch.”
Trubisky had another lackluster performance on Saturday against the Colts, filling in for Pickett for the second-straight week with the latter on the mend after having tightrope surgery on his ankle. Trubisky completed 16-of-23 passes for 169 yards and a touchdown pass to WR Diontae Johnson along with a rushing touchdown, but he threw two interceptions and was sacked three times. It was another bad performance by Pittsburgh’s backup quarterback after playing poorly in his first start of the season last week against the New England Patriots, turning the football over while showing a lack of confidence and poor accuracy as the passing game failed to have any consistency.
Rudolph may not be a world beater at quarterback, but Pittsburgh can’t keep rolling with Trubisky given how he’s been playing. NFL Network insider Ian Rapoport said that there is a chance that Pickett could return as soon as next week against the Bengals, potentially making talk of Rudolph starting moot. Still, if Pittsburgh doesn’t feel that Pickett is ready to return or that he would be limited, rolling with Rudolph may be the best move the team could make. Rudolph would be a more reliable option than Trubisky, who can tend to be reckless with the football.
The Steelers can’t afford to lose another game the rest of the way given that they are now on the outside looking in at the AFC playoff picture. With Pickett currently out of commission and Trubisky looking broken, Rudolph may be this team’s best option moving forward.
