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Two weeks ago, Ben Roethlisberger was an MVP candidate and an undefeated quarterback defying age at 38 years old.
Now, well, he’s still 38.
The Pittsburgh Steelers have lost two straight games after an 11-0 start. They’ve already clinched a playoff berth and remain an intriguing potential challenger for the defending champion Kansas City Chiefs. But it’s mid-December, and their defense can’t carry them every week, and their run game scares no one, and Roethlisberger is playing on a wobbly knee and struggling to command an unbalanced, pass-heavy offense.
The woes could be an understandable lull, an unavoidable stretch of poor play exacerbated by the novel coronavirus disrupting Pittsburgh’s rhythm and altering its schedule. The woes could be just what the Steelers need to learn about themselves, recalibrate and peak during the postseason. Or these could be indicators that they’ve exhausted what made them special.
“We’re facing some adversity,” Roethlisberger said after Buffalo beat Pittsburgh, 26-15, on Sunday night. “But we’re not hitting the panic button. We need to play better on offense. I need to play better. The way we are playing right now is unacceptable.”
Suddenly, the strangest and most uncertain NFL regular season is just three weeks from its conclusion. One thing has gone according to custom, however: This is always the time in which the best teams realize they can’t get by on their dominant strengths alone. The questions now becomes whether their weaknesses are manageable.
In other words, who’s balanced? Which teams have a variety of ways they can win? And most importantly, which teams can play well enough around their quarterback and ensure he isn’t overloaded with responsibility?
It’s an accepted truth that a great quarterback masks sins and enhances championship aspirations. But here’s the complex part: Rely too heavily on that great quarterback, and it makes a team susceptible to losing in the playoffs because, with extra time and emphasis, an opponent devises a brilliant defensive game plan to stifle an already swamped signal caller. Adaptability and versatility are critical to success. At the end of another banner statistical season in the pass-crazed NFL, we’re left to do more than marvel at the stunning individual numbers that quarterbacks have delivered. To evaluate the QBs and parse the contenders, we must consider which teams are built to flow with their franchise players and which are living off them too much.
As the league continues to approach offense in a wide open and innovative way, every new season yields historic productivity. Over the past five seasons, an average of 11 quarterbacks per year threw for
at least 4,000 yards. Go back a decade: Just two QBs threw for that many yards in 2005, and they barely did it. With three weeks to go this season, 14 quarterbacks are on a 4,000-yard pace and three more are slightly below it.
Some game managers even average 250 yards. Unless your quarterback runs like Lamar Jackson, it’s hard to win without someone who can throw for those kinds of numbers. That’s how much the game has grown. It might be wise to start looking at 4,500 yards the way we do 4,000. Or at least 4,250.
History may judge this as a golden quarterbacking age someday, a period in which all-time greats such as Tom Brady, Drew Brees, Aaron Rodgers and Roethlisberger stayed relevant for so long that
they intersected with the next batch of jaw-droppers. The transition has been seamless. Russell Wilson is in his prime at 32. And then there are the mesmerizing young cats: Patrick Mahomes, Deshaun Watson and Jackson. There are a lot of very good players, some with developing Hall of Fame résumés, all around them. And if a 2021 draft featuring Trevor Lawrence and Justin Fields lives up to the hype, the depth of talent could further amaze.
But not every highly productive quarterback can carry a franchise. And not every franchise carrier can remain unscathed while attempting to do so. For the 2020 season, Mahomes and Rodgers belong in that exclusive category. They have been the greatest of the greats, and it’s no surprise that their teams are atop the
AFC and NFC. The extraterrestrial talent of Mahomes is well known. Even though Rodgers had some individual struggles a year ago while learning a new offense, he has longevity on his side.
They’re the two quarterbacks who have been consistently excellent, but they’ve also been empowered to flourish. In Kansas City, Mahomes is blessed with the most explosive collection of offensive weapons in the NFL, and the Chiefs have defensive playmakers, too. In Green Bay, Rodgers has a well-conceived team supporting him, and he’s functioning within Coach Matt LaFleur’s system with more discipline - and less freelancing - than he showed under Mike McCarthy.
“I think it’s a comfort for everybody in the offense,” said Rodgers, who has thrown 39 touchdown passes and four interceptions this season. “Simplicity, even.”
It seems simple for Mahomes and Rodgers. It seems as if they have toyed with the league for much of this season. Both have been able to play with incredible efficiency, stay selective about taking chances and execute whatever each game depends. They are dominant, MVP-worthy factors, but they’ve done so naturally, without pressing.
Although his productivity looks comparable on paper, Wilson tried to do too much at times and endured high-turnover stretches of play. Brady’s performance has been uneven, partly because Coach Bruce Arians has yet to bend his style enough to accentuate Brady’s strengths and hide his limits at age 43. Now there is concern about Roethlisberger, who has averaged a paltry 5.5 yards per pass attempt in the last four games.
Even when he was playing well, Roethlisberger wasn’t chucking the football down the field as well as he once did. The Steelers throw short passes to compensate for their weak rushing attack, but Big Ben’s arm also isn’t as mighty as it once was, not after elbow surgery.
Over Pittsburgh’s last six games, Roethlisberger has averaged 45.8 pass attempts, but he needs to be used the way New Orleans handles Brees when he’s healthy. Brees has turned into a complementary star, but one with Hall of Fame credentials who can make key throws and elevate his play in certain circumstances. That’s the ideal role for Roethlisberger, and the same can be said for Brady. There’s no shame in being thoughtful about how to maximize what an aging superstar has left.
During a postgame interview Sunday, Roethlisberger didn’t hold back when ESPN reporter Brooke Pryor asked about his recent play.
“I’m just not very good, Brooke,” he admitted.