The Steelers needed a come from behind performance to secure victory against the Bengals
The Steelers were victorious against the Bengals, but the manner in which we won could not have been any more surreal. Our rookie, undrafted free-agent quarterback, Devlin Hodges, swooped in to save the day after replacing Mason Rudolph, who was pulled in the third quarter. More on that shortly.
I don’t think it’s a stretch to say that Hodges saved the day for the Steelers. Down 3-7 in the third quarter, Hodges came in and connected with James Washington, Rudolph’s teammate at Oklahoma State, for a 79 yard TD pass to take the lead. The pass was spot on and Washington did the rest.
At that moment, Hodges provided a spark that not only the offense needed but the entire team needed as well. That spark is what propelled the Steelers to victory and what may be just what the doctor ordered going forward. Not taking anything away from Rudolph, but the offense just wasn’t clicking when he was in there.
The aforementioned spark is what Mike Tomlin addresses in his weekly press conference where he announced that ‘Duck’ will start against the Cleveland Browns. If you missed it, you can click on the link above. Does this decision to start Hodges equate to the Steelers losing faith in Rudolph?
I’m not sure it does, but the bottom line is this: We needed to secure victory against the Bengals, Tomlin made a call to the bullpen, so to speak, and it worked in the Steelers favor. Honestly, that’s all I need to know.
Let’s take a look at how the offense fared against the Bengals.