PITTSBURGH (93.7 The Fan) – There is one choice. It’s not debatable. It’s not personal. It’s not about next year.
Mason Rudolph is the Steelers starting quarterback the rest of the season.
Mike Tomlin left the door open at his news conference last Monday saying this:
“It depends on what happens this week to be quite honest with you,” Tomlin said. “We're more of a day-by-day, week-by-week outfit at this point. Hypotheticals and speculations is fruitless for us. We got so many tangible challenges and so much tangible work to do, we're just not wasting a lot of time speculating and things of that nature.”
That wasn’t an endorsement of bringing Kenny Pickett back, rather Tomlin leaving himself an out in case Rudolph stunk and the Steelers found a way to win in spite of him. Rudolph went 18-20 for 152 yards and a 71-yard, game-winning touchdown. His QB rating of 115 were preceded by ratings of 112 and 124 to close the season. In three games, three wins, three touchdown passes and no turnovers.
The last time a Steelers quarterback had three straight quarterback ratings of at least 100, was Ben Roethlisberger from November 1 through November 15 of 2020 (facing Baltimore, Dallas and Cincinnati). Pickett has had one quarterback rating over 100 in his career.
While people will speculate about what this means for next year, the decision is for right now. You can start Rudolph in a playoff game and also start Pickett to begin next season. If your desire is to start Pickett this week because you want him to start next year and this might impact next season, then the players should walk into Tomlin’s office like the players in the movie ‘Rudy’ and hand in their jerseys saying they quit unless Rudolph starts.
This team picked themselves off the carpet after three straight losses with Rudolph as quarterback. He deserves as much as any other player to start this game. The fifth-year quarterback was not only a part of it, but a major reason they are in the playoffs.
Leave next season or anyone’s personal feelings out of it. Make the only decision that makes sense and start Rudolph in the playoffs.