Steelers vs. Bengals: Winners and losers from blowout loss

Steelers loser: Ben Roethlisberger

After looking like a different version of himself last week, Ben Roethlisberger came crashing back to earth this week. His decisions were poor, rushed, and most of his passes seemed off. Keeping him in the game for the entirety of this disaster was poor planning as well, as there was no reason to have Roethlisberger playing when the game was well out of hand. That may have not been his decision, but this week was still a train wreck for the veteran.

While he did throw for 263 yards, he paired that with two interceptions and a touchdown that came late in garbage time. While his attempts at deep passes were refreshing, his arm strength is clearly waning. He was underthrowing a lot of his passes deep. Sometimes the receiver bailed him out, but other times it nearly resulted in an interception and aided in killing drives.

The most frustrating aspect was how quickly Roethlisberger would resort to the check-down. Despite being down heavily for all of the second half, Roethlisberger would opt for quick check-downs instead of trying to let the play develop. Sure, he doesn’t have the mobility to make plays last long anymore, but to be so timid despite being down so much was another reason the team couldn’t muster any sort of an offensive drive. It’s close, but this was one of the worst games for the veteran this season.