During his postgame press conference, Pittsburgh Steelers head coach Mike Tomlin had to answer for why he chose to bench quarterback Mason Rudolph early in the second half against the Cincinnati Bengals.
And in usual Tomlin style, he didn’t want anyone to read too much into bringing Devlin Hodges in. For Tomlin, swapping the quarterback was all about getting a spark out of him to get the offense going. Something Rudolph obviously wasn’t doing.
“I just felt like our offense needed a spark,” Tomlin said. “Mason wasn’t doing enough. Duck came in and gave us a spark.” The spark Hodges gave Pittsburgh lasted all of one drive. But it was the only touchdown the Steelers scored.
Hodges is going to get way too much credit for Sunday’s win but this is what happens. His throw to James Washington for the touchdown was great and a throw I’m not convinced Rudolph could have made today. But after throwing for 90 yards on that first drive, Hodges mustered 28 in the rest of the second half.
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