Welcome to the terrible take, a daily segment telling Steelers nation what's on our mind. I'm Alex Kazora.

I agree with Josh Carney's Tuesday take that Mike Tomlin threaded the needle well in yesterday's press conference,

essentially saying Mason Rudolph will start without the negative connotation of the team

benching Kenny Pickett, who we know would be playing this weekend in Seattle

had Rudolph gone out and laid an egg. Optically, to the national media, he found the perfect way to not make waves. But that game can only be played for

one week. Next week he's not going to have that

the Steelers win again,

Tomlin is going to have to declare Rudolph the starter,

benching him, of course, would not be an option.

Which means Pickett is the healthy backup, creating questions about his future and

status as the team's franchise quarterback.

Sure, it's a good problem to have, win and keep your playoff hopes very much alive, but it will be a conversation that will linger

into the off-season. In one very narrow sense, to be clear, the easiest thing for Tomlin is for Rudolph to start this weekend, not play well, and allow

them to turn the picket for the finale against Baltimore.

All I know is that while this past Tuesday was uneventful,

Tomlin's presser next week could be really interesting.

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