Steelers QB report card: Ben Roethlisberger flashes improvement vs Raiders

Despite the loss against the Raiders, Steeler’s QB Ben Roethlisberger was much more productive than he was against Buffalo. 

Let me start by getting the obvious out of the way: Ben Roethlisberger and the rest of the Steeler’s offense is still a work in progress. The running game is still struggling despite the best efforts of Najee Harris, the pass blocking is at best unreliable and at worst non-existent, and Ben still doesn’t look fully comfortable running Matt Canada’s new offense.

That being said, there is reason for optimism.

Ben connected on a few deep shots to Chase Claypool and Diontae Johnson and, more importantly, showed he was willing to take more than just one or two shots a game. Najee Harris also looked much more in sync with Ben in the passing game, including his first career touchdown reception.

Roethlisberger also got rookie Pat Freiermuth involved late in the game, something that I believe will be a big part of improving the passing game. Juju Smith Schuster was Ben’s favorite target early, and he even scored on a jet sweep for his first career rushing score. Overall, Ben did a good job spreading the ball around to all his top targets, but there is a glaring issue with where the passing offense isn’t being used: the middle of the field.

With the struggles the offensive line has had protecting Ben, he often has been forced to leave the pocket and try and find receivers open outside the numbers. Ben isn’t the same playmaker he once was when faced with pressure off the edge, and with Chukwuma Okorafor continuing to struggle and rookie tackle Dan Moore being thrust into the starting lineup, the pressure likely isn’t going anywhere.

So, what adjustments can Ben and Canada make? Attack the middle of the field. Running more routes in the 10-20 yard range down the middle will give Ben easier completions and allow him to get guys like Freiermuth and Smith Schuster involved more. It also will allow Ben to step up in the pocket more knowing he should have guys flashing open over the middle.

Now that we have discussed Ben’s day overall, let’s take a closer look at his best throw of the game courtesy of Diontae Johnson.