Ladies and Gentlemen, Ben Roethlisberger Has Arrived

by John Cihon

I know that there was some worry about Ben Roethlisberger’s bruised hip that he sustained in the Monday Night Football game against the Baltimore Ravens going into Sunday’s game against the Cleveland Browns, but forget about that. Worry about whether or not his back is sore after pickup up the entire Pittsburgh Steelers team and carrying them to a win despite the Steelers’ lackluster play on both sides of the ball.

And don’t be mistaken, it was lackluster at best. Cleveland had a total of seven sacks the entire season going into the game, and they got four against the Steelers on Sunday. The offensive line has been a weak point for Pittsburgh all year long, and credit Ben’s incredible escapability for not getting sacked more times than he did. Pittsburgh’s defense has been one of the best in the NFL all season, but they gave up three touchdowns to Cleveland in the first half. Ben made more than a couple passes, especially early in the second half, which seemed to fall straight out of receivers’ hands. Special teams have been a weak for the Steelers for at least two seasons now, and Pittsburgh’s coaching staff seems unable to figure out what to do to better them. Don’t judge the coaches too harshly, because they’ve had enough players in and out of special teams slots, not to mention a renewed emphasis on special teams at training camp that something should have clicked by now.

This is now Ben Roethlisberger’s tenth fourth quarter comeback of his NFL career. He completed 12 of his final 14 passes for 157 yards, not to mention two big runs including a career-best 30-yarder for a touchdown. Ben was truly the difference in the game, making plays by running when he had no other options and stealing the win from Cleveland after a dreadful first half by Pittsburgh. Or, as Brett Keilsel put it, ‘All I ever hear is about [Tom] Brady and Peyton [Manning], but this guy we have here is very special.’