The Pittsburgh Steelers just caught another break. Just two days ahead of their Week 1 matchup against the Atlanta Falcons, NFL insider Jordan Schultz reported that veteran Cooper Rush will get the start at quarterback.
This comes after news that starter Tua Tagovailoa suffered an oblique injury this week in practice. As the game approaches, Tagovailoa wasn't deemed healthy enough to suit up. This is unfortunate news for the Falcons and an undeserved break for the Steelers.
Not only will Tua watch from the sidelines, but 2024 first-round quarterback Michael Penix Jr. won't suit up either. Penix has participated in practice, but isn't ready to take the NFL field for a game after suffering a season-ending knee injury last season.
Because of this, Atlanta is down to their third-string option at the game's most important position, and the Steelers stumbled upon a massive gift in Week 1.
The Pittsburgh Steelers get a favorable matchup against Falcons' third-string QB Cooper Rush in Week 1
The Steelers can't take Rush lightly. He's still a veteran quarterback who has started 16 NFL games. Ironically, most of these came in Dallas with Mike McCarthy, where he earned an impressive 9-5 record coming off the bench for Dak Prescott.
During Rush's Dallas tenure, he managed 3,463 passing yards to go with 20 touchdowns and 10 interceptions. This equated to a 91.1 passer rating. Unfortunately for him, Rush's most recent tenure with the Ravens was a disaster.
Last year in Baltimore, Rush started two games (and played in four), completing just 34 of 52 passes for 303 yards (5.8 yards per attempt) to go with zero touchdowns and four interceptions. This resulted in an abysmal 48.8 passer rating.
On FanSided's QB rankings, Rush ranks 71st out of 93, just one spot ahead of Steelers' Will Howard. In the 'depth piece' tier.
Regardless, the Steelers need to be on their guard. But there's no denying how lucky Pittsburgh is amid the Falcons' misfortune.
This would essentially be like Aaron Rodgers and Mason Rudolph both being injured, and McCarthy being forced to start Will Howard for the team's first game of the season. Nobody is arguing that Tua Tagovailoa or Michael Penix Jr. are the cream of the crop at the quarterback position, but both possess more talent than Rush and would have been bigger threats to upsetting the Steelers in Pittsburgh.
What's wild is that Rush wasn't even on the Falcons' roster until the first day of training camp, and had Penix been healthy, there's no guarantee that Rush would have even made Atlanta's final 53-man roster.
Rush possesses adequate size, but poor arm strength and limited mobility. He isn't a quarterback who is going to hurt a defense with his legs or drive the ball deep down the field. Because of this, we can expect the Falcons' offense to be limited. This team still has players like Bijan Robinson, Drake London, and Kyle Pitts who can win at all levels and make things happen after the catch, but Rush will limit the offense.
The Rush news comes shortly after we learned that the Pittsburgh Steelers already dodged star receiver A.J. Brown for their Week 2 matchup against the Patriots. Brown suffered a high ankle sprain in his debut game with New England against the Seattle Seahawks.
As Pittsburgh's opponents are getting struck with injuries, the Steelers have already caught some massive breaks early in the season, beginning with facing a third-string QB in Week 1.
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