(Audacy Sports/WGR 550) - The Pittsburgh Steelers are back in the playoffs thanks to Mason Rudolph’s heroics under center. The overlooked quarterback won his third-straight start this weekend, and set a Steelers franchise record in the process.
Andrew Fillipponi from 93.7 The Fan in Pittsburgh, and co-host of the Audacy original podcast "1st & Pod" gave his initial reactions to the Steelers defying the odds to make the playoffs with Rudolph under center.
"Mason Rudolph saved the Steelers’ season," Fillipponi said. "They were in a swoon that had [head coach] Mike Tomlin and his approval rating at its all-time lowest.
"Mitch Trubisky, both that signing, doubling down on bringing him back as the backup quarterback, having him lose games to the [New England] Patriots and [Indianapolis] Colts had many people questioning the entire Steelers philosophy on team roster building and everything else. The dude that had been here since 2018, maligned by Ben Roethlisberger from the day he was drafted, and ended up being the guy that got them to the playoffs."
Fillipponi stood by Kenny Pickett for most of the season while vocalizing his opinion that Tomlin is an overrated coach.
"It is a surreal story," he said. "It’s literally like the NFL scriptwriters wanted to come up with a Steelers season that made me look as dumb as possible."
Pickett started the first 12 games of the season, but gave way to Trubisky after an ankle injury. The Steelers lost that Week 13 game to the Arizona Cardinals, and then the next two with Trubisky under center.
Rudolph then led the Steelers to three-straight wins to close out the season.
"Pickett gets benched, and the quarterback that I’ve openly mocked and given him the moniker – that I’m surprised it’s not listed on Pro Football Reference as his nickname 'Mediocre Mason' - lifted them to the playoffs and set a Steelers completion percentage record in the rain against the Ravens on Saturday," Fillipponi continued. "Just wild, man."
Fillipponi did have some praise for Rudolph, though.
"The one thing that I ended up being clairvoyant about was once he went in, I had a good feeling about it, to be honest with you," he said. "I did think he possessed some traits like his ability to push the ball downfield that was going to open things up for them in the run game. And when teams cheated against the run, he was going to be able to make them pay for that. He’s got three touchdown passes this year over 60 yards. Tua [Tagovailoa] is the only quarterback in the NFL with more."
Rudolph finished the season with 719 yards on 55-of-74 passing (74.3%) with three touchdowns and no interceptions. He’ll lead the Steelers into Buffalo as big underdogs on Sunday afternoon against the Bills in Orchard Park.
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