PITTSBURGH (93.7 the Fan) –Making his return start after Devlin Hodges led the Steelers to a win, Mason Rudolph threw a pick on his first attempt. Then Rudolph had another first half interception overturned and heard the wrath of Steelers fans wondering how they were down 14-0 to a winless team.
“That was a confidence booster, that really got us together and rallied us together,” said tackle Matt Feiler.
Mike Tomlin noted it wasn’t just Rudolph that started slow, rather the whole team.
“There is always that angst when you are coming off of a bye week of warming up to the action,” Tomlin said. “I thought we could have started faster, not only with him, but all of us.”
That momentum continued into the second half, as after a second interception of the day by Steelers safety Mincah Fitzpatrick, the Steelers drove 97 yards, actually 107 if you include the 10-yard penalty, capped off by a touchdown pass by Rudolph to JuJu Smith-Schuster, who finished with five catches for 103 yards.
“I think he’s a great player,” Rudolph said. “You have to feed him to matter what. He’s proven to be a force down the field in those combat catch situations.”
Tomlin said both lines of scrimmage really took over at that point, James Conner rushed for 145 yards including a nine-yard touchdown early in the fourth for a commanding lead.
“Unbelievable job,” Rudolph said. “He came out hot early and it really kind of sparked us as an offense. He’s playing up there at the top of the competition of running backs in the league.”
Rudolph finished 20 of 36 for 251 yards and a pair of touchdowns and only that one interception on his first throw.
“To come back the way we did, I was really proud of the group and the way we responded as an offense,” Rudolph said.
Steelers host the Colts on Sunday as Mike Tomlin noted the position of his team.