Before Aaron Rodgers committed to the Pittsburgh Steelers, momentum was building for Mason Rudolph to get another shot as the team’s starting quarterback. His last stint as the starter—a three-game win streak to end the 2023 season—salvaged the team’s playoff hopes and reignited belief in him.
With Rodgers struggling to get the offense going for two weeks in a row, could the calls for Rudolph start to swell in Pittsburgh?
“I think Mason could go out there and run that offense very, very well. So possibly,” Former Steelers DL Chris Hoke said Thursday when asked if Rudolph would give the Steelers’ offense a better chance via 93.7 The Fan’s Pomp and Joe Show. “If Aaron Rodgers plays like he played on Sunday night, absolutely. But Aaron also has played really well this year, so what Aaron Rodgers are we gonna get this Sunday against the Bengals? I think the next two, three weeks is gonna tell. If he plays like he played on Sunday night, I think you gotta make the switch.”
There is no denying how poorly Rodgers has been playing. And it wasn’t just the Los Angeles Chargers game last Sunday night.
He only led the Steelers to 27 points against the Colts despite their defense and special teams forcing six turnovers. Even with all the extra drives, the Steelers were out-snapped 74 to 61 while Rodgers managed just 203 passing yards. The following week, he had just 96 passing yards when it mattered against the Chargers. A 65-yard TD drive padded his stats in garbage time.
With DK Metcalf double-covered, teams have figured out how to defend his dink-and-dunk passing game. Only Kyler Murray and Dillon Gabriel have a shorter intended air yards per pass attempt this season. The deep ball is basically non-existent in Pittsburgh’s offense. Rudolph would at least give the Steelers a chance at reigniting that part of their passing attack and opening up the rest of the offense in the process.
The chances of a change actually happening are very slim. Even with a couple more bad games, the 2024 team taught us that Mike Tomlin is willing to roll with a struggling future Hall of Famer over the alternative. Only this time, it’s Rodgers and Rudolph instead of Russell Wilson and Justin Fields.
Would the Steelers really embarrass the future Hall of Famer like that and risk a locker room issue by benching Rodgers? I have a hard time believing they would. But this already becoming a talking point in mid-November is a bad sign for the final eight weeks of the season if things don’t turn around for the offense in a hurry.
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