BIG BEN BOUNCES BACK
Roethlisberger leads Steelers past rival Bengals
Relax, Steelers Nation, your beloved Big Ben is not done yet.
That much was evident Sunday at Heinz Field, where Ben Roethlisberger played an entire game and didn’t throw an interception. The Pittsburgh Steelers quarterback hasn’t had a game without a pick in a month. And the last time the home crowd saw him, he was God-awful, with two of his five interceptions against the Jacksonville Jaguars returned for touchdowns.
But that was then, and this is now.
Roethlisberger came out sharp Sunday, then kept it together to produce his best game of the season as the Steelers (5-2) pasted the Cincinnati Bengals 29-14, tightening their grip on first
place in the AFC North.
It wasn’t perfect. On six trips to the red zone, the Steelers produced one touchdown. Yet after Roethlisberger grumbled, sarcastically, “Maybe I don’t have it anymore,” after the stinker against Jacksonville, he showed something else against the Bengals.
Satisfied?
“No,” Roethlisberger told USA TODAY Sports as he left the locker room Sunday night. “That’s because I still could have played better.”
There’s nothing like the Bengals defense — as tough, gritty and relentless as it can be — to jolt Roethlisberger and Co. Pittsburgh has won eight of its last nine games against Cincinnati, including a playoff slugfest.
The numbers weren’t overwhelming. While Le’Veon Bell matched his season high with 35 carries (for 134 yards, with another 58 on three catches), Roethlisberger threw just 24 times, with 14 completions for 224 yards and two TDs. But he was so efficient, with a seasonbest passer rating of 117.4. He avoided the big gaffe, while Bell provided the rhythm and an improved defense turned it up a notch in the second half (two interceptions, four sacks).
Sure, they left some points on the field. And some drives, too. Twice in the second half, when facing third-and-1 situations, coordinator Todd Haley dialed up deep passes for Roethlisberger, looking for Antonio Brown. The first one, from 31 yards away, was broken up in the end zone. The other one, along the sideline, had less of a chance.
Maybe it at least reflected some sort of restored confidence to go for the kills shots.
“We’ll take those shots,” Roethlisberger said. “That’s our M.O.”
The Steelers could afford to take chances later in the game because of what happened earlier. Roethlisberger completed six of his first seven passes — three went for at least 23 yards — on the first three drives with the two TD passes that put Cincinnati in a hole.
“He did all the right things,”
Bell said of Roethlisberger. “When he feels like he has some time and feels comfortable in the pocket, he’s the best in the world.”
It was the type of complete team performance that Roethlisberger, 35, undoubtedly could envision when he went through the process of contemplating his football future last offseason.
As Roethlisberger put it to me during a training camp interview, it was unlikely that he would retire after last season. But he knows he’s reached the year-to-year point in his career where he must do justice to the process — and for his family — of weighing whether to continue.
Besides his physical wherewithal, though, Roethlisberger insisted that the supporting cast is a primary reason quitting won’t cut it yet. His offense is loaded with weapons. Bell is arguably the NFL’s best running back, and Brown is maybe the league’s best receiver. Pittsburgh has one of the best offensive lines, too, and that was just reaffirmed on a day when Cincinnati didn’t record a sack. Any quarterback in his right mind will take that.
Even better, Pittsburgh seems to own a championship-worthy defense again. As Roethlisberger pointed out this summer, the Steelers — eliminated by the New England Patriots in the
AFC title game last season — have advanced one step further in the playoffs in each of the last three years.
To take the next step, they needed an upgraded defense that could match up against the Patriots. Maybe that’s been done. Drafting T.J. Watt, J.J.’s little brother, added juice to a linebacker corps that has restocked in recent years with the likes of Bud Dupree and Ryan Shazier. Then came the bonus pickup with cornerback Joe Haden, cut by the Cleveland Browns this summer. Haden, who had a pick Sunday, was just the savvy veteran needed to align opposite Artie Burns.
Which brings us back to Roethlisberger.
In his 14th season, he knew better than to panic after the disastrous game two weeks ago, even while some wondered whether he had lost confidence or commitment.
Hardly. NFL seasons are long, full of ebbs and flows. And with Bell getting back into a groove and the defense humming, the conditions are ripe for Roethlisberger to flourish again.
No, he isn’t done yet. And neither is his team.