The biggest question for the Pittsburgh Steelers heading into Week 12 at the Chicago Bears is who will be starting at quarterback. Aaron Rodgers is questionable with a fracture in his wrist, so backup Mason Rudolph is on standby to see if he will be making his first start of the season after closing out last week’s win over the Cincinnati Bengals.
Rodgers has tormented the Bears during his time with the Packers, boasting a career 24-5 record against his former team’s biggest rival, so it would be understandable if Bears faithful were breathing a sigh of relief at not having to play Rodgers this week. Former safety Ryan Mundy, who was drafted by Pittsburgh in 2008 and finished his career with Chicago, joined the CHGO Sports Brick x Brick podcast this week and made it clear that, in his opinion, the Bears should be just as leery in a potential matchup with Mason Rudolph.
“I will say [the Bears] need to look out for Mason Rudolph though because I think he showed something last week that that gave a spark to the offense,” Mundy said. “It had a different feel. It had a different energy.”
Rudolph entered last week’s victory over Cincinnati at the start of the second half after Rodgers was injured on the Steelers’ final drive of the first half. Rudolph completed 12 passes for 127 yard and a touchdown to Kenneth Gainwell to guide the offense to ten points on two drives. The Pittsburgh defense did its part to put the game away with two touchdowns of its own on a Kyle Dugger pick-six and a James Pierre fumble recovery for a score.
Rudolph kept the offense moving with a 17-yard completion to Roman Wilson on 3rd and 11 that kept the drive alive and threw a nice ball to DK Metcalf for what would have been a 30 yard gain but was called back for offensive pass interference. Outside of that, Rudolph kept the offense in rhythm, relying on his receivers, often Gainwell and Darnell Washington, to rack up yards after the catch.
When asked which quarterback he would rather play this week from the Chicago perspective, Mundy said he would prefer to face “injured and older Aaron Rodgers”.
“It’s week 12 of the season. He’s got some wear and tear. He’s coming off the injury,” Mundy explained. “So I would want to test that and be excited about the opportunity more so than Mason Rudolph”.
Mundy may ultimately get his wish. Even if he hasn’t stated so publicly, Rodgers has likely had this week’s game against Chicago circled as his one final chance to beat the Bears. His ability to manage the pain and be comfortable operating the offense will likely be his determining factor in potentially playing through the injury. As Mundy mentioned, Mason Rudolph did provide a bit of a jolt to an offense that was starting to feel stagnant, and the Steelers have to feel confident in his ability as a backup to take control of the offense at a moment’s notice.
The possibility exists that we see both quarterbacks on Sunday, whether Rodgers gets the start but is ineffective due to injury and is replaced by Rudolph or Rudolph gets the start and Rodgers backs up but still enters the game. We will find out on Sunday which quarterback will get the start and potentially how short of a leash they will have. In the meantime, the injury to Rodgers, coupled with Rudolph’s steady play in relief, will continue to provoke healthy debate.
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