Mason Rudolph of the Pittsburgh Steelers lines up under center in the game against the Cincinnati Bengals at the Heinz Field, September 30, 2019. /VCG Photo
Mason Rudolph engineered his own coming out party on Monday night, passing for two touchdowns and 229 yards as the Pittsburgh Steelers routed the Cincinnati Bengals 27-3.
The 24-year-old quarterback completed 24 of 28 passes in his second start since first string quarterback Ben Roethlisberger went down with a season-ending elbow injury.
The victory snapped a three-game losing skid for the Steelers who are now within a game of first place in the AFC North at 1-3.
The hapless Bengals dropped to 0-4 under first-year coach Zac Taylor.
Rudolph connected on touchdown passes with James Conner and Diontae Johnson. Conner finished with 125 total yards.
Jaylen Samuels (C) of the Pittsburgh Steelers runs against the defense of the Cincinnati Bengals in the game at the Heinz Field, September 30, 2019. /VCG Photo
Pittsburgh's Jaylen Samuels ran for 26 yards and a touchdown, caught eight passes for 57 yards and was even credited with three short completions.
Randy Bullock scored the only Bengals' points on a field goal early in the contest in front of a crowd of 57,900 at Heinz Field in Pittsburgh.
Cincinnati quarterback Andy Dalton was sacked eight times. He finished 21 of 37 for 171 passing yards with an interception.
The Bengals were missing their top receiver A.J. Green who is out with an ankle injury.
Taylor became the second first-year coach to drop his first four games with the Bengals. Sam Wyche started 0-5 in 1984.