Tim Benz: Steelers are stuck with ‘Duck’ for now. Starting him Sunday is right call.
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I started drinking coffee when I was 13.
I’ll say it before you do. Yes, that’s what stunted my growth.
It was usually instant coffee. I stole it from my father every morning. He always seemed to have Folgers Instant Crystals or Taster’s Choice in the pantry.
Gross.
The grounds were locked away in his den. And I was too dumb to work the coffee maker back then anyway.
If anything, that should’ve turned me off to coffee forever. I should’ve just gotten addicted to Jolt cola or something.
There was no reason to choose between the two brands. Both options were distasteful, watered-down knockoffs. I simply swallowed hard and picked whichever one I thought would get me through the day.
Kinda like how head coach Mike Tomlin has to choose between Devlin “Duck” Hodges and Mason Rudolph to play quarterback for the Pittsburgh Steelers.
Yup. Pittsburgh is home to the instant-coffee version of quarterback controversies. There is no right choice. But you have to pick one, or else you’ll fall asleep at the wheel and drive off the road.
Heck, with Rudolph or Hodges, that might happen anyway even after Tomlin decides.
On Tuesday, Tomlin announced he had conducted his “taste test challenge” and selected Hodges to start Sunday against the New York Jets, even though he threw four interceptions last weekend against Buffalo.
That’s the right choice.
Sarcasm aside, both Rudolph and Hodges haven’t been that bad. They have at least been good enough to combine for eight wins in 12 tries as starters.
But the Steelers offense has failed to score more than one offensive touchdown in six of the last seven games.
Hence, Tomlin’s dilemma.
Support for benching Hodges and going back to Rudolph was loud after “Duck” got winged against the Bills.
There are multiple reasons to stick with Hodges as the starter in Sunday’s game against the Jets, though.
• It’s a road game. Rudolph has been awful on the road. He lost starts in San Francisco and Cleveland. He was pulled one drive into the third quarter while losing to the horrid Bengals in Cincinnati.
In three road starts this year, Rudolph has completed only52% of his passes. His rating is 50.9. He has three touchdowns and six interceptions. He’s also taken seven sacks in road games whereas he only took seven sacks in six home appearances.
All of Rudolph’s numbers are significantly better at home. Meanwhile, Hodges won starts on the road in Los Angeles and Arizona. He also pulled the Cincinnati game out of the fire and won that one in relief.
Hodges’ numbers are actually better away from Heinz Field. He completes 72% of his passes away from home, as opposed to 65% in Pittsburgh. His touchdown-to-interception ratio during away games is 3:1 versus 2:5 on the North Shore. And his rating is 107 as opposed to 65.
That’s based on two starts and one relief appearance in each circumstance.
• Our last image of both quarterbacks is bad. Hodges was getting drilled by Buffalo. Rudolph put together six consecutive quarters of rotten football against the Bengals and Browns.
The difference is that the Bills defense is excellent. The Bengals defense is atrocious. And the Browns defense is middle of the pack.
When evaluating Hodges’ bad game, that has to be taken into account. He was playing against one of the league’s best when he melted down. Rudolph couldn’t even get it done against one of the worst.
On Tuesday, Tomlin downplayed that portion of the analysis when I asked him if it came into play when making the decision. I bet it did. And it should’ve.
• During his weekly press conference, Tomlin talked about how the Bills were disruptive with their blitzes and how the Steelers weren’t great in blitz pickup Sunday. Jets defensive coordinator Gregg Williams is renowned for attacking the other team’s weakness at the line of scrimmage. That’s part of the reason why the Jets have won four of their last six games.
“Facing a Gregg Williams defense is going to be challenging, especially when you have a young quarterback,” Tomlin said. “Their ability to get after young quarterbacks has been a catalyst.”
Tomlin was talking about the Jets sacking New York Giants rookie Daniel Jones and Redskins rookie Dwayne Haskins six times each in Weeks 10 and 11.
Under that kind of pressure, Hodges has shown a better ability to escape the pocket — or manipulate it — than Rudolph has.
• Rudolph was pretty decent for three games in a row, beating the Miami Dolphins, Indianapolis Colts and Los Angeles Rams.
He was a disaster against the Browns in Cleveland on Nov. 14.
Similarly, Hodges was “above the line” in contests against the Bengals, Browns and Cardinals, before fizzling versus the Bills. If Tomlin felt it appropriate to give Rudolph a chance to rebound after one bad game, logic indicates that Hodges should be given the same shot.
“Exposure is a tool for growth, particularly at the quarterback position,” Tomlin said. “It’s reason to expect him to learn from those negative experiences Sunday night and apply it to this next opportunity and not make those same mistakes twice.”
My bet is Hodges makes some of those mistakes again. And if he does, Rudolph can replace him. Unfortunately, I’d also bet Rudolph would do the same thing if he started.
At that point, turning back to Hodges would seem like grasping at straws.
So there is no right answer. I just think Hodges is the better of two bad options.
Have a second cup of coffee and think about it for a while, Mike. You have a few more days to change your mind.
But you shouldn’t. This is the best way to go.
Cream or sugar with that?