3 reasons why the Big Ben era is coming to an end for the Steelers

Ben’s moxie is essentially gone at this point in his career

Roethlisberger went beyond being a huge quarterback earlier in his career. He got the name ‘Big Ben’ for his size but he would play with an attitude that was larger than life. He would launch deep in double or triple coverage into the arms of his playmaker as the Steelers would favor heavier sets early in his career. It never mattered what the score was he would come out and put in the same effort, and as a result, led the Steelers to 34 4th-quarter comebacks while producing 45 game-winning drives.

The confidence he used to have in himself is disappearing. He is so worried about getting hit in 2020 that he is forcing the ball out too quickly at this time. Ben is showing a tendency to eye down one route-runner that he thinks will be getting open and he is slinging it at the earliest point. There were multiple times early in the game that Ben would force the ball in double or triple coverage short – ignoring a wide-open Chase Claypool getting behind the whole Bengals’ defense. On two of their punting drives, Claypool had been wide open running a deep post in the first half alone. Had Ben taken a half of a second to see this Pittsburgh could have gone into halftime down by 3 points and not 17.

He just doesn’t have the attitude that he use to have. Even throughout the early parts of the season when the Steelers were saying that they weren’t trying to force things by allowing opposing defenses to dictate what they did on offense I was getting worried. Ben used to do what he was going to do. If they were going to run, they were committed to it. If they would throw deep then they would set up what they had to in order to get it going. That moxie that was crucial to Big Ben seems to be gone.