In this week’s “3-and-Out” article, we look at how Mason Rudolph led the Steelers to a 34-11 win over the Bengals, as well as the defensive adjustments that befuddled Cincinnati and the big contributions from new faces in Pittsburgh’s lineup.

Rudolph to the Rescue

The 2023 NFL season has been full of twists, turns and improbable storylines, so it shouldn’t come as a surprise that Rudolph, Pittsburgh’s third-string quarterback, came off the bench in his first start since 2021 and turned in the best game of any Steelers quarterback in… forever.

But it is surprising. It’s surprising because the quality of quarterback play in Pittsburgh has been so low this year that fans have become conditioned to expect the worst. Kenny Pickett was bad, Mitchell Trubisky was worse. What would Rudolph be? He hadn’t taken a snap in a regular season game in over two years and had barely taken practice snaps with the team’s starters over that time. The odds he would play well seemed low at best.

The most I expected from Rudolph was that he’d be an improvement over Trubisky. That was a low bar, given how poorly Trubisky played the past few weeks. Still, Rudolph’s accuracy and mechanics, and his willingness to hang in the pocket and let routes develop, represented an upgrade. His career statistics suggested he might resemble Pickett with his play. Not stylistically, but in terms of production. If that were the case, the Steelers would score about 17 points and would again have to lean on their defense to win. Which, given the state of that banged up unit, did not bode well for their prospects.

397 yards and 34 points later, Rudolph surprised us all.

Rudolph’s stat line — 17 of 27 passing for 290 yards with two touchdowns and no interceptions — was impressive, but it doesn’t accurately represent how well he played. Rudolph read Cincinnati’s coverages expertly and was accurate with most of his throws. He took shots down the field when it was prudent and threw the ball away when there was nothing open. He checked the ball down appropriately. Most impressively, he seemed comfortable. There were no happy feet, no premature exits from the pocket, no forced throws. He played within himself and the offense, which was precisely what the Steelers needed.

The best of Rudolph’s throws involved a couple of beautiful deep balls to George Pickens, including this dime on a 3rd-and-1 play in the 3rd quarter that blunted any momentum Cincinnati may have gathered after scoring their touchdown:

WE COOKIN'

📲: Stream on NFL+ https://t.co/T87FSnfvVk pic.twitter.com/riNFqrrlTC

— Pittsburgh Steelers (@steelers) December 23, 2023

But the play that impressed me most was far from spectacular. With the Steelers up big in the 4th quarter, and backed up near his own goal line, Rudolph tried to hand the ball off to Jaylen Warren as Warren came out of the end zone. But Warren slipped and was unable to make the exchange, and the ball momentarily popped free. Calmly, Rudolph regained possession, then turned, lunged forward so that he was across the goal line and fell to the turf. It was a smart play that averted a potential disaster that could have made the game’s final few minutes less comfortable. And, more than anything, it showed a quarterback playing confident football, sure of himself and the situation, and unfazed in the face of adversity.

Now for the tricky part. While Rudolph’s performance justifies starting him next week at Seattle, Pickett might be recovered enough from his ankle surgery to return for that game. Do the Steelers play Rudolph if that’s the case, or return to Pickett? For me, it’s a no-brainer. You ride the hot hand. With Pittsburgh needing wins in their final two games to have any chance of making the playoffs, they can’t roll the dice that Pickett will be effective. Rudolph may not be able to duplicate Saturday’s performance, but the confidence he demonstrated and the chemistry he developed with Pickens — whose big-play ability is transformative for this offense — is enough to give him another start.

Whatever happens next week, Mason Rudolph brought quality quarterback play back to Pittsburgh on Saturday. It was a sight for sore eyes for Steelers fans and a most unexpected early Christmas present.

Fake out Jake

The quarterback play on the other side of the ball wasn’t nearly as good. While Jake Browning threw for 334 yards, he had three costly interceptions. The first came when he carelessly tossed a ball up for grabs in the end zone, killing a promising Cincinnati drive. The others came as a result of the Steelers playing zone defenses when Browning expected man coverage. The Steelers converted Browning’s interceptions into 17 points.

Browning’s last two interceptions were the result of some trickery from defensive coordinator Teryl Austin. Pittsburgh has been one of the most man-heavy coverage teams in the league this season. Against Browning, though, they showed man on many of their pre-snap looks but then rotated into zone. Browning located balls into spots he expected would be open, only to have Pittsburgh defenders swoop in on the throws.

On the first, safety Eric Rowe, who was playing his initial game for Pittsburgh after being elevated from the practice squad, lined up in the box as though he’d cover Cincinnati’s slot receiver man-to-man, then fell back into zone to snag a crossing route intended for Tyler Boyd.

Another INT for the defense 💪

📲: Stream on NFL+ https://t.co/T87FSnfvVk pic.twitter.com/LIcNb3O4wg

— Pittsburgh Steelers (@steelers) December 23, 2023

On the second, Alex Highsmith, who’d been a force pursuing the passer most of the afternoon, bluffed a rush before dropping to a hook zone to snare a dig route. It was the second time this season Highsmith had both a sack and an interception in the same game.

Heck of an INT for Alex Highsmith.

📺: #CINvsPIT on NBC
📱: Stream on #NFLPlus https://t.co/yewPow3ekF pic.twitter.com/qfoLeRljqS

— NFL (@NFL) December 24, 2023

The coverage disguises were a nice wrinkle for an Austin defense that had to do something different after giving up three touchdown passes to Gardner Minshew and the Colts a week earlier. With Rowe and regular starting corner Patrick Peterson playing safety, plus another newly signed player (Myles Jack) paired with Mykal Walker at linebacker, pulling off the schematic switch was impressive. Credit the defensive staff for devising the scheme, but credit them doubly for preparing the defense well enough to execute it at a high level.

Welcome (Back) to Pittsburgh

It was quite a debut for Rowe and Jack. Rowe’s interception was huge, while Jack, in his second stint with the Steelers, contributed six tackles, a tackle for loss and a sack. Jack’s presence was especially important considering Elandon Roberts, now the veteran of a gutted linebacking corps, left the game in the 2nd quarter with a pectoral injury and did not return. Jack, Walker and Mark Robinson held the unit together with duct tape, while Rowe and Peterson did an admirable job of replacing injured safeties Minkah Fitzpatrick and Keanu Neal and the suspended Damontae Kazee.

Walker, Rowe and Jack were the leading tacklers on Saturday. None were on the team as recently as six weeks ago. Roberts is in his first year in Pittsburgh. So too are Chandon Sullivan, Nick Herbig, Keanu Benton, Joey Porter Jr, Markus Golden and Armon Watts, all of whom played significant snaps. It’s amazing how much turnover there’s been on the defense recently, whether a product of injury or design. In that regard, Austin and his defensive staff have done a solid job of keeping the unit productive. Pittsburgh’s eight wins certainly aren’t a product of their offense. In fact, if the offense had simply been mediocre, the Steelers would almost certainly be a 10-win team. Star power matters, of course, and the Steelers have it on defense. But for a unit that has had to introduce new players into its lineup almost every week, they’ve been remarkably effective.

And Out…

According to NextGen stats, Rudolph’s 44-yard completion to Pickens late in the first half traveled 55.7 yards in the air, making it the longest completion in terms of air yards by the Steelers since 2017:

Mason Rudolph's 44-yard completion to George Pickens traveled 55.7 yards in the air, the longest completion by air distance by the @Steelers since 2017.

🔹 Sideline Separation: 0.7 yds
🔹 Completion Probability: 25.0%#CINvsPIT | #HereWeGo pic.twitter.com/osjYIbLVzT

— Next Gen Stats (@NextGenStats) December 23, 2023

That speaks volumes about their quarterback play these past five seasons. The last few years of Ben Roethlisberger’s career, and the two years since of the Pickett/Trubisky era, have been dominated by a dink-and-dunk passing attack that has sought to minimize risk and mask the limitations of its passers. Rudolph is probably not the permanent answer moving forward, but whoever quarterbacks the Steelers next season must be better in the vertical passing game for the offense to be more productive.

Check out my podcast, “The Call Sheet,” which runs Wednesdays on the FFSN network, as well as my “Call Sheet Breakdown” film room videos which run on the SCN YouTube channel. This week, I’ll do breakdowns of Rudolph’s big day and of how the Steelers crossed up Jake Browning with their coverage disguises.