Steelers ‘Duck’ Hodges swoops in to save the day
By Eric Hassel
The Steelers turned to an undrafted, rookie free-agent quarterback to save the day
It was a ‘gutsy’ decision by Tomlin to pull Rudolph in the third quarter, but it was a necessary decision. The Steelers offense up to that point had produced 3 points on 5 possessions, one of which resulted in an INT. You generally don’t win football games with 3 points on 5 possessions.
The Bengals game was a game the Steelers needed to win for three reasons: First, the Bengals play in our division, so a division win is important. Second, the Bengals play in our conference, so a conference win is important. Third, we had to keep pace in the playoff race, which we did with the win.
After replacing Rudolph, Hodges finished his day 5 for 11 for 118 yards and 1 TD pass. That TD pass to Washington was huge because we were losing at that point. Hodges let it rip and Washington did the rest If you didn’t see it, here it is: Washington’s TD
Prior to the TD pass to Washington, the offense just wasn’t moving the ball. I don’t think that is a referendum on Rudolph, per se, but you can’t deny the fact that once Hodges was inserted into the game, the offense got going.
Look, I personally do not care who the Steelers QB is, provided we are winning. The reality is this: The offense is currently and still ranked 28th in average yards per game. That is awful, let’s be honest and let’s hope that Hodges can provide another spark against the Browns.
Let’s now turn our attention to the defensive side of the ball.