By Tim Clark / / Column, Tim's Two Cents, Pittsburgh Sports
Two

It probably doesn’t matter in the grand scheme of things, but Mason Rudolph should be the starting quarterback for the Pittsburgh Steelers. He should have been the starter since the day the Steelers re-signed Rudolph last spring.

I say it doesn’t matter in the grand scheme because whether it was Rudolph or Rodgers, the offense wasn’t going to be very good. The coordinator continues to run an elementary style offense just like his two predecessors. The Tomlin playbook simply gets passed on to the next guy.

Still, the idea is to give your team the best chance for success. Rudolph is the quarterback that gives the Steelers the best chance for success. He isn’t a Super Bowl caliber signal caller but that was always going to be out of reach for this team.

I admit to being sucked into the hype of Aaron Rodgers, thinking he could at least get the team to the playoffs and maybe actually win a game. Turns out the hype wasn’t real. Rodgers looked fairly decent for the first month of the season. He started the year old, but didn’t look like an old quarterback. The past three or four games Rodgers didn’t just look old, he looked old and bad. His throws were almost always errant, he wasn’t throwing down field, and the pass rush was flustering him.

In one half of football Rudolph and the offense was far more efficient, albeit against a porous Bengals defense. Nevertheless, Rudolph made throws that Rodgers wasn’t making. He isn’t afraid to throw down the field. I even saw *gasp* a crossing route or two to Darnell Washington. After seeing this run after catch, Washington should never run anything else.

 

Go ahead and watch that a few more times, even if you’re not a Steelers fan.

The other thing is the offense wasn’t just more efficient but had a more upbeat energy. Thinking back to Rudolph’s last stint in Pittsburgh, the team always seems to play harder when he is the quarterback. Some guys can just create that energy in their teammates. Aaron Rodgers of Packers yore had that ability. And I get that it is typical for a team to rally around the backup quarterback, but facts are facts.

The fact is that Mason Rudolph is a better quarterback right now than Aaron Rodgers.

Even though I think there is still a good chance the Steelers finish with 8 or 9 losses and miss the playoffs, the fact is none of the teams left on their schedule is playing great football. Next week at Chicago is a winnable game, as is Miami and at Cleveland. The Bills are not playing well, nor are the Ravens despite a four game win streak. A split with Baltimore seems reasonable. The Lions game will be the most difficult to win.

Confident quarterback play would certainly benefit the pursuit of 10 wins and a playoff spot.

I certainly am not arguing that Rudolph is a top tier quarterback in the NFL. The Steelers have two choices —no, Will Howard isn’t a choice— and Mason Rudolph is the best of those two choices. 

Quite frankly, the best thing for Pittsburgh is to lose so that maybe a parting between Tomlin and the team can take place. A fresh start is desperately needed in Pittsburgh. Load up in the draft next year and allow a new coach to give the franchise a fresh look and a new beginning.

That being said, teams are always going to try to win. Mason Rudolph gives the Steelers the best chance to win. The Rodgers signing was always unnecessary. The money that went to Rodgers could have been spent more wisely on, say, a free agent wide receiver to go along with DK Metcalf.

I know, I know. Spilled milk. 

Tomlin has always viewed Rudolph as a backup. Always. And he has been in love with Rodgers since the days, well, the days when Rodgers was good. Tomlin hasn’t met a past his prime veteran he wouldn’t sign, and his love fest with Rodgers is why he pushed and pushed and pushed to sign the quarterback.

Who knows how good Rodgers or Rudolph could be with an actual number two wide receiver. We will never know. With the makeup of the offense and where each quarterback is in their respective careers, this decision should be easy.

But this is the Steelers and Tomlin we are talking about, so when the aged veteran who has looked more like 51 than 41 is healthy I am sure he will get the nod. It is the Tomlin way.

This season always should have been Rudolph’s shiny new year in Pittsburgh.

Tweet of the Week

Another week. Another Lane Kiffin TOTW. Not only is he a great coach, particularly on offense, but he wins over the fans and media so easily.

 

The Weekly Shiny Penny

A little love for my Trojans this week in advance of their big game versus Oregon. Makai Lemon is the best wide receiver not playing for the Buckeyes. Has to be a Blitnikoff finalist.

 


A Penny For My Final Thought…

I have tried not to go after these guys and gals. It has been quite some time since I mentioned this subject. But I can’t stay silent any longer.

The officiating in college and pro football is absolute garbage.

The lack of consistency within games and also between crews is astounding. The worst thing, however, is the egregious  missed calls.

In the USC/Iowa game last Saturday the officiating crew missed two blatant facemasks against the Trojans. Both plays were isolated in space where multiple officials could, or should, have seen them. To balance things out, Iowa committed many pass interference infractions. They were called for two or three. The cherry topper was after USC got a fumble recovery that would have sealed the game, offsetting penalties were called. The USC penalty was a defensive hold on number 15. The only problem is that number 15 wasn’t on the field or even in the stadium. When USC watched the “all 22” film there wasn’t anything resembling a hold.

A high intensity game with meaningful repercussions was called like a Thursday night flag football game at the city park.

The Sunday night NFL game between Philadelphia and Detroit essentially ended with this pass interference call.

 

While you are at it, watch the ridiculous call from the Dolphins game attached to the original tweet.

The Steelers/Bengals game was another example of terrible,officiating. One bad call after another. It was Bill Vinovich’s crew, so it wasn’t surprising. It seems not in the league’s best interest for teams to have to prepare their teams for certain crews.

Every game there are missed calls. That is part of the deal. This is something different. At times you want to speculate if the games are fixed, ala pro wrestling. It is bad, and it takes away from the games. That should be the last thing sports leagues want.

Okay, maybe this is the last thing they want.

 

Thank you LASIK for your attention to this pressing matter.

Just my two cents…