Pittsburgh Steelers head coach Mike Tomlin benched Mason Rudolph during Sunday’s win over the Cincinnati Bengals, and he’ll stay benched in Week 13.
Speaking with reporters on Tuesday, Tomlin confirmed that Devlin Hodges will start against the Cleveland Browns. When asked why he made the change, Tomlin responded with a savage, yet honest, quote that really says it all.
Rudolph has been awful the past two games. The Steelers lost to the Browns two weeks ago thanks to the four interceptions thrown by Rudolph. And on Sunday he threw another interception against the Bengals.
After Rudolph and the Steelers went three-and-out to open the second half Sunday, Devlin Hodges threw a beautiful, long touchdown on his second throw of the game. He’s shown the ability to make big plays this year, to be sure.
Yet Tomlin has a different goal for the former undrafted free agent out of Samford.
The Steelers have one of the league’s best defenses. They have the ability to win games against many teams even if the offense isn’t putting up a ton of points. But turnovers have been the bane of this team so far this season, so it’s not surprising that Tomlin is prioritizing ball security at this point.
Pittsburgh enters Week 13 with a record of 6-5 and is currently slotted in as the No. 6 seed in the AFC with five games left to play. It’s crunch time. We’ll soon find out if Duck Hodges can do what Rudolph could not — manage the game.
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