CINCINNATI -- The Pittsburgh Steelers couldn't wait any longer.

After a stagnant drive to open the third quarter down 7-3 to the Bengals, the Steelers benched starting quarterback Mason Rudolph in favor of backup Devlin "Duck" Hodges.

Rudolph was sacked on the first play of the drive for a loss of 13 yards when he couldn't find an open receiver. Two plays later, he threw a wobbly pass that fell incomplete and sent the Steelers' offense off the field for the third three-and-out of the afternoon.

The offense responded immediately to Hodges, scoring a touchdown on the rookie's first drive. He threw an 11-yard pass to Jaylen Samuels on his first play, and connected with James Washington for a 79-yard touchdown a couple of plays later. It was the Steelers' first touchdown since the third quarter of the 21-7 loss to Cleveland last week.

Hodges finished the game 5 of 11 on pass attempts for 118 yards, and helped lead the Steelers back to win Sunday's game 16-10.

Rudolph's afternoon was abysmal before he got benched, completing just 8 of 16 pass attempts for 65 yards. He ended the Steelers' second drive with an interception in the red zone.

The offense had just three plays of at least 10 yards in the first half -- all coming from players signed off of practice squads eight days earlier. Running back Kerrith Whyte had a 21-yard rush and a 16-yard carry in the drive that ended with Rudolph's interception. And wide receiver Deon Cain made a 35-yard catch in the second quarter on second-and-21.

Rudolph's performance in Cincinnati was the latest in a series of rough games for the second-year quarterback. The loss in Cleveland will most be remembered for Rudolph's fight with Myles Garrett, but prior to that he threw four interceptions.

Rudolph has thrown for 1,551 yards with 12 touchdowns to eight interceptions since taking over for Ben Roethlisberger in Week 2, when the franchise quarterback went down with a season-ending elbow injury. Rudolph's QBR of 35.0 ranks 31st in the NFL.

Hodges took over for Rudolph once before this season, coming in when Rudolph sustained a concussion against the Ravens in Week 5. Hodges started the next week against the L.A. Chargers before Rudolph resumed his starting duties after the bye week.