The Steelers future Hall of Fame quarterback has a plethora of amazing plays to his credit. So many, in fact, that some have been forgotten.
Ben Roethlisberger has made a number of amazing plays in his 18 years with the Steelers that it’s impossible to count. The throw to Santonio Holmes in Super Bowl XLIII, the tackle on Nick Harper in the AFC Divisional Round, the throw to Antonio Brown at the goal line on Christmas- those all immediately come to mind.
However, this isn’t a list about those plays. Rather, this is a list of signature Big Ben plays that time has forgotten. Whether it was a long scramble or a perfectly thrown ball, these are five incredible, but forgotten, Ben Roethlisberger plays.
#5 Touchdown to Heath Miller vs Chiefs (2009)
It’s no secret that Heath Miller was Ben Roethlisberger’s safety valve through the primes of each man’s career. When the Steelers made it to the red zone, though, that connection became unstoppable.
In 2009, the Steelers traveled to Arrowhead to face the Chiefs. Pittsburgh built a 10-7 lead in the second quarter before marching into the red zone. Ben took the snap, shook off what should have been a sack, which is the most used phrase ever when discussing Ben Roethlisberger, and he began to run left. Miller sprung open and caught the touchdown to give the Steelers a 17-7 lead. Roethlisberger ended the day with 398 yards and three touchdowns, but also two interceptions.
Unfortunately, the Steelers would allow the Chiefs to come back, and Kansas City would go on to win in overtime. The loss was the Steelers second in what would end up being five consecutive losses in 2009 before the infamous game against Green Bay at Heinz Field. Mike Wallace’s touchdown reception, and Ben’s first career 500 yard game, ended the Steelers’ drought, but they fell short of the postseason after winning the Super Bowl for the second time.
#4 Touchdown to Heath Miller vs Ravens
Hello, Heath Miller. Nice to see you again. In one of the best games of his career, Roethlisberger threw five first-half touchdowns against the Ravens on Monday Night Football in 2007 at Heinz Field.
You could put a few throws from that game on this list, but his first touchdown of the day was Ben being Ben. The Steelers had the ball at the Ravens 17 yard-line. Ben took the snap and was hit by a pass rusher up the middle, whom he shook off and began running left. While on the run, he found a wide-open Heath Miller in the back of the end zone for a touchdown, which started the fire for Pittsburgh.
Pittsburgh won the game 38-7 and dominated the Ravens on both sides of the ball. Roethlisberger went 13-of-16 for 209 yards and five touchdowns, while the Steelers defense held Steve McNair to just 63 yards passing.
#3 No, no, yes touchdown pass to Parker vs Broncos
If you asked me to show you the epitome of a Ben Roethlisberger play, this would be the one to watch. It doesn’t get a lot of recognition because it was in the midst of the worst year of Ben’s career, but what a play it was.
The Steelers were trailing 14-0 at the beginning of the second quarter and were inside the red zone. Ben took the snap, ran left, side stepped multiple tacklers, ran back to his right, and threw to his left where Willie Parker was open for the touchdown. It was an amazing play, and one of the lowkey greatest plays in Roethlisberger’s career.
Unfortunately, he also threw three interceptions in the game and the Steelers lost 31-20, falling to 2-6 on the season. Had the Steelers won this game and finished with a better record, this would be one of those plays that are in the Roethlisberger loop of highlights. While Pittsburgh would rally to win six of their final eight games, they came up shy of a playoff berth in what ended up being Bill Cowher’s final season as head coach before Mike Tomlin took over in 2007.
#2 Touchdown pass to Hines Ward in hurricane vs Dolphins (2004)
The Week 3 contest between the Steelers and Dolphins in 2004 was Ben Roethlisberger’s first start. Due to Hurricane Jeanne, the game was pushed back to Monday night rather than Sunday.
The game displayed the defensive juggernaut the Steelers had built. The defense held Miami to just a field goal and had four takeaways throughout the course of the game. Neither offense could do much on the muddy baseball/football hybrid field after the rain that swept through Miami, but Roethlisberger and the Steelers did just enough.
With just under seven minutes remaining in the game, the Steelers led 6-3 off the strength of two Jeff Reed field goals and were inside the Miami 10 yard-line. Roethlisberger faked a pitch and took off to his right before firing a dart to the front pilon, hitting Hines Ward for the touchdown. The late score all but ended the Dolphins’ chances of mounting a comeback, and Pittsburgh went on to win the game 13-3, improving to 2-1.
Ben only completed 12 passes in his first start, as the Steelers relied heavily on the ground game in light of the bad weather. Ward caught nine of those 12 passes and caught his second touchdown in two weeks to give Pittsburgh the win.
#1 Ben’s 20-yard scramble vs Bills
This was more of a back and forth game than it should have been for the Steelers. Playing against a subpar Bills team in Week 12, 2010, the two teams exchanged blows and mistakes, alike. This game also included one of the best interceptions of Troy Polamalu’s career off a deflection.
Tied 13-13 with nine minutes remaining in the fourth quarter, the Steelers faced a third down and 18 from their own 29 yard-line. Pressure got to Roethlisberger before he shook off two potential sacks and he took off to his right. There was no one in front of Roethlisberger for more than 20 yards, and he took off.
This was definitely after Ben’s early days where he had solid mobility, but he outran multiple Bills defensive linemen and beat safety Jarius Byrd to the first down chain, giving the Steelers an all-important first down.
This game is more infamous for Stevie Johnson dropping a wide-open touchdown in overtime and then blaming God, which led to the Steelers winning on a Shaun Suisham field goal, but this was the ultimate Ben play. Pittsburgh ended up going to the Super Bowl that season, playing the Green Bay Packers in Super Bowl XLV.