Ben Roethlisberger isn’t washed, but needs to be adapted to

Pittsburgh Steelers’ beloved quarterback, Ben Roethlisberger, is still good enough to win a Super Bowl, but not on his own.

Everyone knew Peyton Manning was coming to the end of his career in his last two seasons. Not that he should’ve been the backup or that his time was over, even if his final season was clearly his worst. But with the leadership and mentality someone like Manning brought to a team, he was still a factor even if he wasn’t making plays.

Ben Roethlisberger has started to hit that point. Less drastically, of course, but is still starting to decline. Not that his talent is any less than it was, but physically, his body no longer allows him to do the things he has throughout his career.

That’s okay. Plenty of quarterbacks start to lose their arm strength as they get older. They’re throwing hundreds of balls a year while taking a beating from 300-pound defenders, it’s surprising they last as long as they do.

It’s clear that Big Ben is no longer the deep ball passer of his youth. Not that he’s unable to get the ball downfield, but on a consistent basis, using his accuracy and quick receivers in the middle of the field is now his most successful form of passing.

On this team, that’s perfect. Even if Todd Haley is determined to undermind the talent on this offense and tries to push the ball down field, the stars in place are able to create plays their way.

JuJu Smith-Schuster and Antonio Brown are the perfect combination of short to middle receiver threats with the possibility of a deep ball. Roethlisberger has already proven he knows how to use both of them and when the offense focuses on the strengths within it, it strives.

Big Ben is still a winning quarterback. The Pittsburgh defense is good, and Le’Veon Bell is clearly the best running back in the NFL, but without Roethlisberger everyone knows the Steelers would not be 7-2 and atop the AFC.

There’s still a lot of season left and anyone know believes this problem won’t get figured out hasn’t watched the Steelers play. Big Ben knows how to adapt and eventually, the offensive gameplan will circulate around the strengths of him and the receivers.

Next: 3 players who need to step up in light of Haden's injury

Don’t count Big Ben out, yet. He may not have a ton left in the tank, but he definitely has enough to carry this team.