It was a much-needed win for the Pittsburgh Steelers Monday night.

But it was also a window into the thinking of the organization.

They don't have faith in Mason Rudolph.

At least not yet.

The Steelers ran what amounted to a high school offense against the Bengals.

Lots of pop passes. The wildcat. “Throws” that traveled an average of 1.2 yards in the air in the first half.

It was effective.

It was also against the sad-sack Bengals.

I'm not sure if a gameplan like that will work against a team like the Ravens, who the Steelers play Sunday.

At some point, Mike Tomlin and his staff are going to have to take the training wheels off Rudolph.

The second-year quarterback did hit a long pass to rookie Diontae Johnson for a touchdown, but it was one of the few times he even looked to push the ball down the field.

You do have to give Tomlin and offensive coordinator Randy Fichtner credit for whipping up such a creative strategy. I'm sure the Bengals didn't anticipate running back Jaylen Samuels completing three passes or he and District 10's own James Conner combining for 16 receptions.

Of course it didn't really matter what the Bengals' defense was or was not prepared for when facing the Steelers' offense.

They certainly weren't prepared for what the Steelers' defense threw at them.

Andy Dalton's back was on the Heinz Field grass more than his cleats were.

The Bengals' offensive line was like a block of five turnstiles in a subway terminal.

And the plan to block T.J. Watt with a tight end certainly backfired.

The Steelers sit at 1-3 and have a chance to be in first place at the end of the weekend should a few things fall their way.

That's how fine the line is in the NFL. That's how quickly fates can turn.

That's why it's a long season and even with a quarter of the schedule completed, we still don't know what to expect or where a lot of teams will be by the end of the year.

The Steelers showed some promise last week. They started to look like the Steelers again.

But there's a long way to go.

Mike Kilroy is a staff writer for the Butler Eagle.