Ben Roethlisberger’s performance for Steelers wasn’t as good as you think
By Tommy Jaggi
Roethlisberger was just a game-manager
Part of the reason why Ben Roethlisberger was so efficient on paper in this game is that he was rarely asked to throw the football. Over Pittsburgh’s last three losses, Ben has been asked to throw the ball 46 times to keep his team in the contest. However, against the Broncos in Week 5, the Steelers quarterback threw just 25 passes — completing a mere 15 of them.
In addition, it’s important to consider that much of Ben’s passing yards came after the catch in this contest. His 59-yarder to Chase Claypool, for example, traveled just 6 yards past the line of scrimmage on a wide-open slant before the talented receiver did the rest.
Ben did have two beautiful touchdown passes down the field in this contest (which again is why he had his best performance of the season). However, he was still just 3 of 8 when passing beyond 10 air yards.
Because the offensive line and running game were so good in this contest, Ben simply had to manage the game. When going up against one of the more high-powered offenses in the AFC, he will not have the same luxury of doing so.
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I’ll be the first to admit that Ben Roethlisberger looked much better in this contest than he has since dating back to the 2020 season, but I think too many fans are overreacting to this one performance when it’s important to look at the context here. Ben had two great throws but really wasn’t asked to do much at all in this game.