Pittsburgh, Pa. (93.7 The Fan/WGR 550) - There is one choice. It’s not debatable, it’s not personal. It’s not even about next year.
Mason Rudolph is the Pittsburgh Steelers' starting quarterback for the rest of the season.
Steelers head coach Mike Tomlin left the door open at his news conference last Monday, saying it depended on what happened in Saturday's win over the Baltimore Ravens.
"We're more of a day-by-day, week-by-week outfit, at this point," said Tomlin. "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-of-20 for 152 yards and a 71-yard, game-winning touchdown pass to Diontae Johnson. His QB rating of 115 was preceded by ratings of 112 and 124 to close the season.
In his three games started under center for the Steelers, 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 Nov. 1 through Nov. 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.
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