LATEST UPDATE: A Pittsburgh Steelers player was honored after the team’s victory over the Bengals.
PHILADELPHIA (AP) – Mason Rudolph did not overestimate himself. He shouldn’t either.
Call it the aftereffects of six years spent primarily as an afterthought for a team that once said he was a first-round choice.
So, while the Pittsburgh Steelers’ longtime backup quarterback reveled in a dominant 34-11 win over Cincinnati on Saturday night, in which he was a difference-maker rather than a “freeloader” (his term for being a third-stringer on game days), he made it a point not to look ahead to what might await in Seattle next week.
“I love to play,” Rudolph explained. “But I have no control over that.” I’ll get our marching instructions as we go.”
Rudolph, maybe more than anybody else on the roster, is well aware that such marching orders and his hobbies rarely coincide.
The surgically repaired right ankle of Kenny Pickett is recovering. Since assuming the starting job a month into the 2022 season, the Steelers (8-7) have handled Pickett like a franchise quarterback. Despite a generally disappointing season, Pickett is under contract for at least two more years, and his growth remains, to put it mildly, a work in progress in which Pittsburgh is highly committed.
Coach Mike Tomlin refused to reveal who will run out with the starting on New Year’s Eve, citing the fact that it is “too early.” While that is undoubtedly the correct decision, not returning the ball to Rudolph would convey a message. And not the correct one.
After two mistake-prone and poor starts by Mitch Trubisky, Tomlin cited the necessity to produce points and move the ball as the primary reasons he went to Rudolph. The Steelers had their most productive first quarter (166 yards) in eight years by the end of the first quarter. They recorded their largest halftime lead (24 points) since 2016.
By the end, Rudolph was standing at midfield, serenaded by a crowd that included both of his parents with an especially gleeful rendition of “Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer.”
Rudolph appreciated the gesture, but he hopes that’s the end of his story with Santa’s most famous helper. The reindeer only work one day a year. The quarterback anticipates a longer run. Given how one of the team’s longest-tenured players has handled slight after slight throughout the years, he definitely deserves it.
Devlin “Duck” Hodges is being benched. Ben Roethlisberger gave me a cold greeting when I arrived in the spring of 2018. Taking responsibility for a 16-16 draw with Detroit in 2021, despite the fact that he was not at fault for any of the three Steelers fumbles in overtime, two of which occurred in Detroit territory.
Rudolph has handled everything — and don’t even get us started on the brawl with Cleveland’s Myles Garrett in 2019 — as best he can. It hasn’t always been simple. The incoming free agent wasn’t joking when he declared late Saturday night that he’s not sure if he’ll be in the NFL or selling commercial real estate next year.
That will have to wait till the offseason. After the best and most crucial start of his career, Rudolph may have earned another look, whether in Pittsburgh or elsewhere.
Beyond that, Rudolph demonstrated to many, probably most notably himself, that he can still play. When defensive tackle Cam Heyward presented him the game ball in the locker room, he didn’t say anything. He probably didn’t have to, given how well his play spoke for him.
WHAT IS SUCCESSIVE
Allowing Rudolph to chuck it deep. For the majority of the past four years, the Steelers offense’s pursuit for “splash” has been a tedious and exasperating odyssey. Rudolph did something that Pickett and Trubisky couldn’t do with any frequency (or accuracy): he gave Pickens a serious chance to be a game-breaker.
WHAT IS IN NEED OF ASSISTANCE
Injuries (and, in the case of Damontae Kazee, a season-ending ban) have caused havoc on the secondary. While the Steelers intercepted Cincinnati’s Jake Browning three times, they also allowed 335 yards passing and looked extremely vulnerable, especially on throws to the center of the field.
GET STOCKED
Tomlin received a lot of fire for not disciplining Pickens — publicly, at least — for his sometimes shaky effort on the field and his occasionally petulant behavior off it. Pickens responded by becoming the first Steelers wide receiver to have 195 yards receiving and two touchdowns in a game since Antonio Brown in 2013.
STOCK REDUCTION
End of the defensive line In his second season, DeMarvin Leal was expected to be a bigger part of the rotation. Instead, he’s been a healthy scratch the past two weeks and hasn’t played more than nine snaps in a game since November 2.
INJURIES
Inside linebacker Elandon Roberts has been vital this season, especially when the Steelers suffered season-ending injuries to Cole Holcomb and Kwon Alexander in November. After suffering a pectoral injury in the second quarter, Roberts may be placed on injured reserve.
NUMBER OF THE KEY
15-3 — Pittsburgh’s record the week after a loss of 17 points or more under Mike Tomlin.
UPCOMING STEPS
Determine who will start and, more significantly, how they will attempt to win in Seattle for the first time in 40 years when they visit the Seahawks on New Year’s Eve.
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