After leading the Pittsburgh Steelers to back-to-back wins and putting up at least 30 points over the last two weeks, Mike Tomlin has made it official: Mason Rudolph will start the season finale against the Baltimore Ravens.
“We’re going to leave the ball in Mason Rudolph’s hands,” Tomlin said during his Monday press conference posted on the Steelers’ YouTube page. “He’s done a good job and we’ve done a good job in the most recent two weeks. We’ve taken care of the ball, he’s taken care of the ball. We’ve scored points at a rate in which we hadn’t done to this point this year. And with the urgency of the moment and because of those reasons we’re gonna leave the ball in his hands.”
Over the last two games, Rudolph has gone 35-of-51 for 564 yards and two touchdowns with no turnovers. He’s built a nice connection with second-year wide receiver George Pickens — Pickens has 11 receptions for 326 yards and two touchdowns in the last two games — and the Steelers’ offense has looked like a completely different unit with Rudolph under center.
That means despite likely being healthy enough to play, Kenny Pickett will remain on the bench. Pickett suffered an ankle injury in Week 13 and underwent tightrope surgery, but Rudolph was named the starter over him while Pickett was inactive in Week 17. Given the recovery timeline, Pickett should be healthy enough to play this week, and he felt he was last week. Tomlin said of Pickett, “his availability is less in question this week.” The Steelers are opting to go with Rudolph, as he’s looked like the better option.
“I say all those things with the understanding that I know Kenny is very capable and particularly as it pertains to this matchup,” Tomlin said. “Kenny has led us to victory late in the game the last two times we played Baltimore.”
This will be Rudolph’s most important start yet. If the Steelers lose, their path to the playoffs is narrow. If they win, they have a decent shot at getting in the playoff field. Given that he’s starting this week, Rudolph will likely be the starter if Pittsburgh does end up making the playoffs.
The decision to start Rudolph doesn’t come as much of a surprise, and we’ll see if he can build off his performance over the last two weeks and help Pittsburgh attain a 5-1 divisional record with a win over the Ravens. With the Ravens already locking up the first-round bye in the playoffs, they will likely be resting some key starters, including but not limited to QB Lamar Jackson.
