Mason Rudolph
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Pittsburgh Steelers head coach addressed how he thought quarterback Mason Rudolph played in Week 12 against the Chicago Bears.
Quarterback Mason Rudolph completed a high percentage of his passes for the Pittsburgh Steelers in his first start of the 2025 NFL season. But Rudolph didn’t throw for very many yards and turned the ball over twice in a 31-28 loss to the Chicago Bears on Sunday.
Head coach Mike Tomlin addressed how he felt Rudolph performed in place of the injured Aaron Rodgers in Week 12.
“I thought he was game. He always is. He made plays for us, particularly in the fourth quarter,” Tomlin told reporters. “But as a collectively, him included, we didn’t do enough to win.”
Rudolph completed 24 of 31 passes for 171 yards with one touchdown and one interception. He also took two sacks, one of which resulted in a lost fumble.
Rudolph averaged just 5.5 yards per attempt.
Mason Rudolph, Steelers Fall Short in Chicago
Rudolph threw an interception on his first pass of the afternoon. He and the offense then responded with a 13-play, 95-yard drive, though, to tie the game at seven. Rudolph connected with D.K. Metcalf on a 6-yard swing pass for the score, which was a backwards lateral and counted as a Metcalf rushing touchdown.
But the Steelers offense didn’t have a really strong drive again until the fourth quarter.
While trailing by 10 points, Rudolph orchestrated a 17-play, 73-yard drive to pull within three. The Steelers had an opportunity to put together a go-ahead or game-tying drive twice after that. But the offense stalled both times.
In the final minute of regulation, the Steelers were about 10 yards outside of fringe-Chris Boswell field goal territory. But they gained just four yards on three plays, and then Rudolph threw an incomplete pass on fourth-and-six.
On the drive before that, Rudolph had a long run to convert a third down, but an illegal formation penalty wiped out the big gain.
The Steelers rushed for a season-high 186 and average 5.2 yards per carry. But with Rudolph making his first start, the team averaged just 4.8 yards per pass.