Welcome to the terrible take, a daily segment telling Steeler Nation what's on our minds.

I'm Melanie Freelander.

Entering week 17 of the regular season, there is a lot at stake when the Steelers had to Seattle to take on the Seahawks.

Both teams currently sit at 8 and 7, on the outside of the playoff standings, but still in the hunt.

Depending on whose stats you use, the Steelers have only about a 17% chance of making the playoffs.

They no longer control their own destiny and need a few other games to go their way in order to

punch a ticket to the post-season.

You could argue that their single elimination

tournament has already begun. The buzz surrounding the Steelers all

week centered around the quarterback position and the question of who would get the

start. The answer finally came from head coach Mike Tomlin on

Friday when he announced that Mason Rudolph would get the ball.

Kenny Pickett was listed as questionable, so it remains to be seen whether he or

Mitch Trebiski will serve as the backup today.

Rudolph had a solid performance in the 34-11 win over the Bengals in his first

start since 2021 and fans were clamoring for him to lead the team this week.

The odds are that Rudolph won't look quite as poised in the pocket on the road

in a stadium where fans have been known to register more noise than any other home crowd.

He probably won't play as well this week, but in my opinion,

he isn't the X factor that many fans are making him out to be. With a ragtag

inside linebacker unit and a secondary riddled with injuries filled out by a couple

of veteran players getting their second start after spending most of the season playing call of duty

...