Is Steelers Ben Roethlisberger one of the best indoor quarterbacks?
By Tommy Jaggi
Ben Roethlisberger is known for his ability to compete through harsh weather, but is the Steelers quarterback one of the best in the league when playing indoors?
When I think of Ben Roethlisberger, I picture a a quarterback who is an expert at extending plays and breaking tackles. I also think of a quarterback who thrives in all sorts of weather conditions. However, stats indicate that some of these stereotypes have no roots to the Steelers quarterback.
Particularly when it comes to playing football outside. Though Ben has been known to have big victories during poor weather conditions, the 2-time Super Bowl winning quarterback is also one of the best indoor passers in the league.
Pro Football Focus recently released a statistic charting the big-time throw rate by quarterbacks when playing in a dome. Ben Roethlisberger not only found himself atop of the league, but his big throw percentage was the highest of any quarterback in the Pro Football Focus era:
Big Ben ranks highest in #BigTimeThrow percentage from a clean pocket indoors during the PFF era! pic.twitter.com/JqgPDCropd
— PFF (@PFF) July 10, 2019
This is an impressive stat considering that every team in the AFC North plays football outside. A 2017 stat from Jeremy Fowler of ESPN suggests the same thing – noting Ben Roethlisberger’s dominance with a roof over his head:
Dome play seems to suit Ben Roethlisberger, who's a 72.8 pct passer with 1,517 yards, seven touchdowns, two interceptions and four wins in his last five dome starts.
— Jeremy Fowler (@JFowlerESPN) October 26, 2017
Ben played in just two dome games this season, but managed 52 completions for 630 yards with 6 touchdowns and just 1 interception. His quarterback rating averaged over 110.0 in these two games against the Falcons and Saints last season.
There’s no doubt that it is easier to sling the ball in perfect weather conditions (ask any quarterback in the league). Unfortunately, Ben rarely gets to do so.
When he does, however, Ben Roethlisberger has proven to be one of the best dome passers we have seen in our generation.
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The Steelers quarterback deserves a lot of credit for all the accomplishments he has achieved over the years. If he had been playing indoors all this time (like Drew Brees has for the past 13 seasons), Ben’s stats could be even more impressive than they are right now.