Steelers Mike Tomlin makes the right move by sticking with Devlin Hodges

Steelers quarterback Devlin Hodges was awful against Buffalo last week, but here’s why Tomlin’s call to stick with him is the right one.

Things couldn’t have gone much worse for Devlin Hodges than they did on Sunday night. While playing in a primetime game under the lights at Heinz Field, the Steelers undrafted quarterback threw one ‘duck’ after another – ultimately turning the ball over four times.

After the 17-10 loss to the Buffalo Bills, questions immediately arose about whether or not the Steelers should revert back to Mason Rudolph for Pittsburgh’s Week 16 road matchup against the Jets. However, this notion was shut down on Tuesday by head coach, Mike Tomlin.

While it wouldn’t have been hard to see why Tomlin would turn back to Rudolph, I think he is making the right choice by sticking with Devlin Hodges.

I seem to recall a certain quarterback who completed just 12 of 20 passes for 176 yards while turning the ball over twice in his first NFL game. However, he went on to win his next 15 straight (I’m referring to Ben Roethlisberger, of course). While there is clearly a night-and-day difference between Big Ben and Hodges, it’s only right for the Steelers to give him a chance to see how he bounces back.

Roethlisberger wasn’t a top tier quarterback from day one. He too was aided by the spectacular play of terrific NFL defenses. In fact, Ben threw 43 interceptions in his first 3 seasons. His third year in the league, he managed just 8 wins while throwing 18 touchdowns and 23 interceptions.

Thankfully, the Steelers hadn’t given up on him just yet. Hodges will never be the player that Ben is, but I think it is pivotal that he gets the opportunity to redeem himself before going back to Rudolph. We have seen a much larger sample of Rudolph this season, it’s time to see if Duck can gain back his confidence.

There is a chance that Hodges could have an awful start against the Jets, and Mason Rudolph could be forced back into action. However, I still believe the undrafted rookie gives Pittsburgh the best chance of winning this year. Let’s hope he can put his dreadful Week 15 performance behind him and focus on taking down New York this week.