The Pittsburgh Steelers picked up their first win of the season on Monday night, defeating the Cincinnati Bengals by a score of 27-3 behind a strong performance from young quarterback Mason Rudolph.
Rudolph completed 24 of his 28 passes for 229 yards and a couple of touchdowns, and afterward, Steelers head coach Mike Tomlin lauded his signal-caller for his outing.
“Can't say enough about Mason,” said Tomlin, per Steelers Depot. “We gave him a game ball in there for his first [home] start and win. So, I thought that was appropriate.”
Of course, Rudolph was never supposed to be Pittsburgh's starting quarterback in 2019.
The Steelers entered the year with Ben Roethlisberger under center, but in the middle of Pittsburgh's Week 2 matchup with the Seattle Seahawks, Roethlisberger left the game with an elbow injury.
Given that the Steelers had traded fellow quarterback Josh Dobbs to the Jacksonville Jaguars earlier in the week, Pittsburgh had no other option but Rudolph to replace Roethlisberger.
It was then revealed that Roethlisberger would be out for the remainder of the season, meaning Rudolph would be the quarterback for good.
Through three games and two starts, Rudolph has thrown for 515 yards, six touchdowns and a couple of interceptions while completing 67.6 percent of his passes and posting a passer rating of 103.2.
The 24-year-old, who played his collegiate football at Oklahoma State, was originally selected by the Steelers in the third round (76th pick overall) of the 2018 NFL Draft.
Pittsburgh is now 1-3 on the season and will play host to the Baltimore Ravens in a pivotal AFC North showdown next Sunday.
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