As the Pittsburgh Steelers prepare for their third game of the season, there is a lot to ponder in advance. The team has changed fundamentally since the last time they took the field, in light of the season-ending injury suffered by franchise quarterback Ben Roethlisberger. Understandably, that’s going to be the focus of the day.
Or more accurately, not so much on his absence as on the presence of his backup, Mason Rudolph, the second-year quarterback whom they had a first-round grade on a year ago, making the first start of his career on the west coast against a 2-0 San Francisco 49ers team.