Ben Roethlisberger looks completely washed as Steelers struggle vs Bengals

The Pittsburgh Steelers had an abysmal offensive showing against the Cincinnati Bengals. Is Ben Roethlisberger completely washed up? 

Ben Roethlisberger is part of the problem; not part of the solution. Change my mind.

I hate to be so harsh after a simple Steelers loss, but things couldn’t have gone much worse for Big Ben in this contest. After putting up a goose egg in the first quarter, Ben’s offense was able to muster up enough strength to come away with one touchdown in the first half of the game on a slow, methodical drive that lasted over eight minutes.

Unfortunately, this would be the only touchdown the Steelers would score all day. So what was the reason for this?

While Roethlisberger truthers would love to point the finger at the offensive line, the big guys up front are only part of the problem. Admittedly, this OL didn’t do a good enough job protecting Ben or carving out running lanes for Najee Harris. However, I would argue that Roethlisberger himself is perhaps the biggest detriment to this team right now.

This isn’t a thought that arose overnight. I think Ben has played some pretty bad football dating back to the second half of the 2020 season. Unfortunately, his embarrassing play against the Cincinnati Bengals in Week 3 only reinforces the idea that Big Ben is just about done in the NFL.

Is Ben Roethlisberger washed up?

This is starting to sound like more of a rhetorical question than anything else. I feel like most fans have finally come to this conclusion. It’s sad but true.

While I need to go back and evaluate the tape against the Bengals this week, Roethlisberger was dreadful. In fact, his play was so bad that this might have been one of the very worst contests of his professional career.

Though the 39-year-old quarterback was able to salvage his production in the box score with 318 passing yards, he wasn’t a fraction as good as his numbers would even suggest – and they were nothing to write home about. By the end of the day, Roethlisberger had finished the game going 38 of 58 for an embarrassing 5.5 yards per attempt with 1 touchdown and 2 interceptions to go with his 70.9 passer rating, according to ESPN.

Not only did Roethlisberger have an apparent problem with his decision-making in this contest, but he also seemed to be checking everything down underneath (and during very inopportune times). Most of Ben’s yardage came after the catch on dump-off passes as his average depth of target was concerningly low.

If Ben Roethlisberger is indeed washed up, there isn’t much the team can do about it at this point. Kevin Colbert sacrificed money for next season in voidable-year deals in order to get one more chance in 2021. The 18-year veteran isn’t getting benched thanks to his future Hall of Fame pedigree. However, if he doesn’t turn this sinking ship around, it’s going to be a very long season void of hope for Steelers fans.