Mason Rudolph replaces Mitch Trubisky as Steelers quarterback

Late in the Steelers game against the Colts, Mike Tomlin went to this third-string quarterback, Mason Rudolph.

Rudolph hadn’t thrown a pass since the 2021 Christmas holiday season. But Pittsburgh, obviously, needed a change. Mitch Trubisky, who started, had thrown an interception the series before. And with hopes flickering, Rudolph entered the game at the two minute warning.

But Rudolph had the same luck as Trubisky. The Colts sacked him on fourth down with 1 minute, 42 seconds to play. At that point, Indianapolis went to its victory formation to kill the rest of the clock on a 27-13 win. But when Tomlin started taking timeouts, the Colts opted to run plays. Indianapolis then upped the lead to 30-13 with a 42-yard field goal.

Meanwhile, even if Kenny Pickett returns, the Steelers’ playoff hopes are all but over. They’re 7-7. And both the Bengals, who played earlier today, and the Colts are ahead of them for a post-season invite.

Pickett missed his second straight game after suffering a high ankle sprain against the Cardinals. He had a surgical procedure to help the ligaments heal faster. Rich Eisen with NFL Network said the Steelers believe Pickett can return next week. But if Pickett can’t go, does Tomlin stick with Trubisky or take a chance on Rudolph. Both have started games at Pittsburgh. Although Rudolph hasn’t played since December, 2021, he still owns a 5-4-1 career record as Steelers starter. He’s thrown for 2,366 yards and 16 touchdowns to 11 interceptions.

In post game, Tomlin said he didn’t know who might start at quarterback next Saturday against the Bengals.

“Again, I don’t have answers as I sit here right now,” the coach said.. “I know that we better do some things differently. We better approach some things differently. We’re not going to roll that ball out there like that next week.”

And Trubisky said the obvious — the Steelers needed better execution.

“Too many penalties, we can’t go backwards,” Trubisky told reporters. “We gotta play 11 guys as one. We gotta execute better, gotta be better on third downs and we gotta play a complete game. (And) we got off to a fast start today and we didn’t do anything in the second half. It’s just not good enough and we gotta go back to work to correct it.

“We gotta be better in all facets. I don’t know what to say, we scored 13 points pretty quick and then we couldn’t get anything going after that. It’s just inconsistency.”