5 things we learned: Odes to Mason Rudolph, George Pickens for big games for Steelers

Five things we learned from Steelers 34, Bengals 11:

1. Been a long time

It had been more than four years since a stadium full of fans had seen Pittsburgh Steelers starting quarterback have a game like the one put out against the Bengals. In fact, the 124.0 passer rating posted Saturday by Mason Rudolph is the highest by a Steelers QB in front or more than a relative handful of fans since…. Mason Rudolph had a 124.6 rating, also against the Bengals, in his second career start Sept. 30, 2019.

The only game a Steelers quarterback started and finished in which he had a better passer rating in the interim came when the announced attendance at what was then called Heinz Field was 4,708 for a 38-29 win against the Philadelphia Eagles. Ben Roethlisberger had a 125.4 rating that day.

Over the past five seasons, Roethlisberger — who retired after the 2021 season and played just two full games in 2019 — has had 14 games with a passer rating of 100 or more. Rudolph has two and Kenny Pickett, Devlin Hodges and Mitch Trubisky one each.

Roethlisberger started and finished 32 games in that time. Rudolph has nine full games, Pickett has 20 full games and Hodges and Trubisky (for the Steelers) six each.

2. Big-play Mason

Rudolph connected with George Pickens for a trio of big gains (for 86, 66 and 44 yards, respectively) Saturday. That instantly gave him three of the Steelers’ five longest passing plays of the season. Rudolph, in one game, also now accounts for two of the top three longest passing plays of the past three Steelers seasons combined. Only Pickett’s 72-yard touchdown pass to Calvin Austin III against Las Vegas in September joins that group since the start of the 2021 season.

In 11 career starts, Rudolph has seven passes that gained at least 44 yards. Compare that to Pickett, who has three in 24 career starts.

Rudolph’s average intended air yards (per NFL Next Gen Stats) Saturday was 9.7 yards downfield. For perspective, that would rank third in the NFL for the season. Pickett’s IAY is 7.1 in 2023.

Next Gen also noted that the 44-yard, second-quarter reception traveled 55.7 yards in the air from Rudolph’s hand to Pickens’. That accounted for the longest completion by air distance by the Steelers since 2017.

3. Mister Speed

Pickens reached a top running speed of more than 21.5 mph for each of his two long touchdown receptions. According to NFL Next Gen Stats, Pickens’ speed during the two plays against the Bengals were each among the top 16 of any league player running with the ball at any point during the 2023 season.

Next Gen tracked Pickens at 21.54 mph during his 86-yard touchdown on the Steelers’ second snap of the game and it measured him running 21.50 mph for his third-quarter scoring catch and run of 66 yards.

Next Gen has been publicly posting the top footspeed with the ball for NFL players since 2018. Pickens now has the two fastest plays for the Steelers in that time — both in one evening.

The next-fastest is Minkah Fitzpatrick (21.48 mph on a 2019 interception return), followed by Chase Claypool reaching 21.6 mph on a 12-yard run in overtime of the 2022 season opener against the Bengals.

4. Yackety-YAC

Last season among 139 pass catchers qualifying under pro-football-reference.com stats, Pickens was dead last in average yards after catch (YAC). Pickens managed an average just 2.0 yards running after his 52 receptions with just 104 YAC total for the season.

Pickens had 75 YAC on Saturday’s first catch alone. In 2023, Pickens has improved from the league’s worst YAC receiver to one of the best. The 6.3 average yards after catch he’s gained this season is seventh-most among wide receivers.

Pickens this season ranks No. 3 in the NFL in Next Gen’s “average YAC over expectation” at 3.0. Pickens’ plus-139 receiving yards over expected Saturday were the third-most in a game by any NFL receiver since 2018.

5. More love for George

Pickens on Saturday became the second Steelers receiver in franchise history to have multiple touchdown receptions of 60 or more yards in the same game. Louis Lipps had touchdown catches of 80 and 65 yards from Bubby Brister in a Dec. 4, 1988, game at the Houston Oilers.

Only five receivers across the league have matched Pickens’ feat over the past 17 seasons: Tyreek Hill (Week 13 this season), Gabe Davis (Week 5 last season), Ja’Marr Chase (Week 17 last season) and Odell Beckham Jr. (Week 6 in 2016).

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