Ben Roethlisberger is on injured reserve; Mason Rudolph is the new starter at QB. The Steelers are at a crossroads…or are they?
It is still early in the 2019 season; however, the Steelers are at a crossroads…or are they? Against the Seattle Seahawks, Ben Roethlisberger, the Steelers franchise quarterback for the last 15 season, exited the game with an elbow injury.
He would later be placed on season-ending injured reserve. Mason Rudolph assumed command of the Steelers offense after Ben’s exit and will remain in control until the end of the 2019 campaign.
While Rudolph performed well in his first action in an NFL game that counted, the Steelers ultimately lost the game. Winless in the first two contests, we are seemingly at a crossroads concerning the future of our franchise quarterback, to the outcome of the 2019 season, and the resolve of both the players and of the organization.
I don’t think it would be going out on a limb to say that the Steelers are at a crossroads and the result of the 2019 season will determine the course of action the organization takes with Coach Tomlin and his staff, with Rudolph, with our free agents-to-be, and with the 2020 draft.
While uncertainty exists for the rest of the 2019 season in that we currently find ourselves in unchartered territory sans Ben for virtually an entire season, a few things are certain: Rudolph is the quarterback, Coach Tomlin is the head coach, and the team has 14 games left to prove the Steelers organization has a plan and is not, in fact, at a crossroads.
Let’s explore both sides of the crossroads as they relate to the offense.