Pittsburgh Steelers Tap Backup Quarterback Mason Rudolph as the Week 16 Starter

The Pittsburgh Steelers named third-string quarterback Mason Rudolph as the starting motor against the Cincinnati Bengals inwards Week 16.

The 2 AFC North divisional rivals straight away in a spirited with postseason implications.

The Steelers (7-7) have a 3% chance to make believe the playoffs as an AFC wild-card team, according to a acoustic projection past Upshot. The Steelers must win all triad of their remaining games, and receive some aid from other teams, to sneak into the playoffs through the backrest door.

The Bengals (8-6) currently fill the #6 seed inwards the AFC as one of trine wild-card teams. They can buoy strengthen their postseason office and final stage the Steelers’ postseason hopes with a road triumph on Saturday.

Wild Season inwards Pittsburgh

Fans feature been complaining nearly the Steelers’ lusterless offence for the past times two seasons. Offensive coordinator Matt Canada came under flaming for his unimaginative playbook and predictable tendencies. Head train Mike Tomlin fired Canada after a Week 11 loss against the Cleveland Browns.

The Steelers won their next game with a 16-10 victory against the Bengals in Week 12, but have got since dropped ternion sequent games to drop to 7-7.

Tomlin’s task is inward jeopardy unless he canful someways pass the Steelers to a long-shot playoff berth.

Starting field general Kenny Pickett sustained a richly ankle joint sprain in Week 13 and underwent tightrope surgery. George Edward Pickett has been trending inward the redress direction, but he’s allay sidelined for at to the lowest degree another week.

Backup signal caller Mitch Trubisky filled inward for George Edward Pickett inward the in conclusion 3 games, but all trio of his starts resulted inward losses. The Steelers averaged 13.7 points per biz with Trubisky as the starter, so Tomlin decided to take a chance on Rudolph to jump-start the offense.

Rudolph: From Third String to Starter

The Steelers selected Rudolph out of OK State with a third-round plectron inward the 2019 NFL Draft. He posted an impressive 5-3 record book as a dispatcher inwards ogdoad games as a rookie inward 2019. He went 0-1-1 as a tell apart starter motor since then, and has an boilersuit record of 5-4-1 as a starter.

Rudolph took all of the snaps inwards use with the starters for the first clip this season. He typically runs the pathfinder team, which is a job relegated to third-string quarterbacks.

“The hardest division of beingness the threesome is even though on that point is almost a zero point percent statistical chance of you playing, you relieve feature to prepare,” Rudolph told The Athletic. “I essay to thrust myself each calendar week that when this happens, you are ready and don’t lose a beat.”

We’ve got go through with Mason,” said Tomlin. “He’s got experience with us within our program. He’s a right thought guy. He’s a unspoiled sounding board for the guys that are in. It’s a really well-fixed thing for us with his front and him being elevated, no more doubt.”

“I’ve been here with Mason, he’s got a lot of starts below his belt,” said meanwhile violative coordinator Eddie Faulkner. “You experience really unspoiled almost a cat who’s got receive below center of attention inwards NFL games inward the fixture flavor playing for you.”

Betting the Steelers in a Must-Win Situation

The Steelers are +2 place underdogs at Heinz Field in Pittsburgh on Saturday. The Bengals are 6-6-2 against the gunpoint distribute this season, piece the Steelers are 7-7 ATS.

The Bengals won’t have lead broad pass receiver Ja’Marr Chase in the lineup piece he nurses a right hand shoulder joint injury, but they’re ease a -2 favourite with backup quarterback Jake Browning below center.

The Steelers are +900 betting odds to create the playoffs, according to a prop bet past DraftKings. They’re a huge betting favorite at -1800 to misfire the playoffs.

The Bengals are also an underdog to create the playoffs at +200. You canful backward them to bubble the playoffs at -250. The Bengals hold a 34% chance to puddle the playoffs, according to Upshot.

The Steelers are at the bottom of the inning of DraftKings’ NFL futures room at +25000 odds to win the Super Bowl, and +15000 odds to win the AFC Championship.