The Steelers put up 28 points against the Bears and lost with Mason Rudolph at quarterback—though the offense only scored 21 itself. So how did the longtime veteran backup perform? Charlie Batch, another longtime veteran Steelers backup quarterback himself, believes he did…okay, or thereabouts.
Commenting on the game on his Snap Count Show with Trai Essex, he assessed Rudolph with a middling grade. Though he first offered somewhere between a C+ and a B-, he settled on the latter. His chief reason for that grade centered, really, on three plays.
“When you turn the football over twice, that’s on you”, Batch said of Rudolph, regardless of (most) circumstances. “That’s why I would give him that C+/B- in the grade, only because of that reason. Regardless of how it happens”.
Rudolph threw an interception very early in the game, a jump ball to DK Metcalf. While one can fault Metcalf for his culpability in the interception, the quarterback could have offered better ball placement. Batch also noted the later throw to Roman Wilson down the field that the receiver had to break up.
Along with his interception, Mason Rudolph took a sack on which he lost possession of the football. The Steelers’ blocking scheme left something to be desired, leaving Montez Sweat one-on-one with Darnell Washington. And they did that multiple times throughout the game. “Again, you have to do everything in your power to hold onto the football”, Batch said.
The other play for which Batch knocked Rudolph officially never happened. It was his 22-yard scramble late in the game negated by an illegal-formation penalty. This play has drawn a lot of coverage since the game ended, but Batch ultimately puts the blame on the quarterback for calling for the snap when the offense isn’t set.
“Those three things, as a quarterback, you have to own that responsibility even when those things [aren’t totally] your fault”, he said of Rudolph’s performance. “Everything’s not, [but] you have to own up to that. That’s why I give him essentially a B- in this game”.
With Aaron Rodgers seemingly set to return, this might be Mason Rudolph’s only extended action in 2025. If that is the case, Batch said he believes Rudolph is “going to scratch his head” over this performance. On the whole, the Steelers limited the downfield passing, relying on YAC opportunities. When they did go downfield, it didn’t work.
Ordinarily the deep ball is a part of Rudolph’s arsenal—or so we perceive. But he didn’t have George Pickens this time to make electric plays for him. DK Metcalf is many things, but despite his physique, he has never thrived in combat-catch situations. And, of course, if your receiver has to break up a pass, chances are you didn’t do your job.
Rudolph did make a nice throw for a touchdown to Pat Freiermuth, but overall, this was a low degree-of-difficulty performance. Under ordinary circumstances, that would be fine, but not in a losing effort. Charlie Batch noted some opportunities, for example, that Rudolph didn’t take, or perhaps didn’t see, especially on crossing routes. Everything is amplified in a loss, but that’s the name of the game.
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