Ben Roethlisberger has done a good job not giving the ball away in 2020, but here are four areas of concern for the Steelers quarterback so far this year.
The Steelers have a chance to make history on Sunday. Despite their reputation for slow starts to begin the season under Mike Tomlin, Pittsburgh sits at 3-0 and has a chance to start 4-0 for the first time since 1979 – a year where the Steelers would eventually go on to win the Super Bowl.
In order to have a shot at the big game this year, Pittsburgh will need to continue their dominant run on defense. Entering Week 5, the Steelers are currently 2nd in the league in yards allowed (290.0 per game) and 5th in points allowed (19.3 per game), according to Team Rankings. However, their dominant play up front suggests they could be even better.
The Steelers are 1st in the league against the run – allowing merely 54.0 yards on the ground per game. In addition, they are number one in the league in pressure rate. If the secondary could take a step forward this unit looks scary.
However, despite a potentially lethal defense in 2020, Pittsburgh can really only go as far as quarterback Ben Roethlisberger is able to take them. While Ben has done a good job taking care of the ball early in the season (just 1 interception and 2 interceptable passes), he must improve for the Steelers to have a legitimate shot at a Super Bowl title this year.
Pittsburgh may be undefeated through three games this season, but here are four reasons fans should be a little concerned about Ben Roethlisberger in 2020:
Roethlisberger’s efficiency is below average
If you were to narrow in on Roethlisberger’s touchdown to interception ratio this year, you would think that everything has gone flawlessly for the 38-year-old quarterback in 2020. After all, boasting 7 touchdowns to just 1 interception to go with a 3-0 record seems like a terrific start for any quarterback.
However, this is exactly why raw stats can’t be trusted. Though Big Ben has cashed in a few times with passing scores near the goal line, his raw statistics are a bit deceitful. According to Player Profiler, Roethlisberger is 23rd in the NFL in red-zone completion percentage, 30th in deep ball completion percentage, and 26th in pressured completion percentage.
Even when Ben is deemed as having a clean pocket, 19 other quarterbacks have a better completion percentage when not pressured. Most concerning, his 49.8 total QBR ranks him just 25th in the league; meaning just seven starting NFL quarterbacks have been worse in this department overall this year.
Roethlisberger clearly has lots of time to turn this around, but his efficiency numbers are something that most fans would like to just sweep under the rug. He needs to improve if the Steelers want to be able to knock off good teams in the playoffs this year.
Yards per attempt are concerningly low
Despite having an offensive line that has done well in pass protection this year (ranked 7th by Football Outsiders), Roethlisberger hasn’t taken a lot of shots down the field. When he has, the Steelers have found success – usually with Chase Claypool coming down with a big catch or drawing a pass interference.
However, Ben has looked to dump the ball underneath too often this year. His 7.1 yards per attempt is good for 21st in the NFL entering Week 5, and it is just 0.5 yards per attempt more than what Devlin Hodges offered last year.
Just below Roethlisberger on the list are players like Ryan Fitzpatrick, Jeff Driskel, Mitch Tribusky, and Dwayne Haskins. Unsurprisingly, just one of these quarterback remains as the starter for their team. On the opposite end, top quarterbacks like Dak Prescott, Deshaun Watson, and Aaron Rodgers are all averaging at least 8.4 yards per attempt, while Josh Allen and Russell Wilson are at 9.0 yards per attempt or higher.
We might be able to live with Roethlisberger being just average in this department in 2020, but dinking and dunking the ball down the field will really limit the team’s offensive ceiling this year.
Steelers red-zone struggles are legitimate
Again, it’s important to note that we are only three games into the season for the Steelers this year. However, what we’ve seen in the red zone so far this year has not been good.
In addition to Ben Roethlisberger being just 23rd in the league in red-zone completion percentage. The team has been pathetic in this area of the field. Though field goals have become commonplace for Pittsburgh (and we are obviously thankful for a kicker who has been on the money since 2019), the Steelers are just 27th in the league at converting red zone opportunities into touchdowns, according to Team Rankings.
This lack of efficiency near the endzone isn’t enough to detur a victory against low-end teams like the Giants or Broncos, but against better competition, there’s no way that scoring touchdowns on just 50 percent of red zone opportunities would get the job done.
The Steelers have stalled too often when they get near paydirt, and some of that blame rests on Pittsburgh’s quarterback. Ben needs to be more efficient in the red zone for this offense to take a leap forward.
Roethlisberger needs to take more deep shots
I’m not saying that Big Ben needs to throw the ball deep just for the sake of it, but with an offensive line that has held up well, he hasn’t taken advantage down the field (as evidenced by his low yards per attempt).
Though Roethlisberger has connected with rookie Chase Claypool on a few impressive throws down the sideline, there isn’t another receiver on the team with a catch over 28 yards. This isn’t to say that Ben needs to take a deep shot on every drive, but it’s important to keep the defense on its heels.
So far this season, Roethlisberger is just 19th in the league in air yards per attempt, and only two other starting quarterbacks have a lower completion percentage on deep balls this year. I know Ben doesn’t have the same arm he used to, but we’ve seen some nice throws in stride to Claypool this year. He may just need to trust himself a little more and let it fly.
Ben Roethlisberger has played just three regular-season games since his elbow surgery this offseason, so I’m going to give him the benefit of the doubt that his efficiency will improve. If it doesn’t, the Steelers may not have enough firepower to compete with the best teams in the playoffs this year.