Big Ben Hasn’t Tolled his Last

What’s happening with Ben Roethlisberger right now, that’s not Father Time.

It’s true that he’s eventually coming for us all. Ben’s playing career is waning, but to say that he’s cooked is such a lazy take. It’s this decade’s “they gotta fire that [insert offensive coordinator here].”

Looking back at his tape, there is some legitimate bad. There were some that he threw to the wrong shoulder, like Claypool in the end zone. The spike to DJ on an out last week wasn’t pretty, but to say “he can’t make those throws anymore” simply isn’t true. That’s a reaction to the result and not the totality of his performance.

The overthrows to Juju up the seam seem to be the catalyst for this latest revolt against Ben, but he’s been overthrowing guys since Martavis Bryant – noted speedster – was here.

So what is going on?

1) Ben seems to be lacking some touch in his surgically-repaired elbow that was in a cast for a year, but that can be relearned. You hear all the time about pitchers who go away for Tommy John surgery, work on their mechanics, build up their core, and come back throwing harder than ever. He’s still be surprised by his own strength at times, especially when so much of what he does is in high-stress, fast-twitch situations where his body relies heavily on muscle memory in lieu of conscious processing.

Ben has drawn only two roughing the passer penalties this year

2) He is legitimately hurt. That’s not just a narrative they’re getting out there to justify their eventual benching of the future HOFer. The offensive line is not putting him in positions to succeed, and it’s hard to imagine Rudolph or Haskins faring any better (remember when Mason was knocked out cold by Earl Thomas?).

3) As a result of all those hits he’s taken, he’s visibly tentative. He’s not taking the time to make reads. He’s relying on pre-snap reads to make decisions and he’s been fooled too often. Take this fourth down throw to Juju from the Packers game:

The solution to the “Ben problem” Juju alluded to on the sideline during Sunday’s loss at Lambeau is to get the line right. Give your quarterback a clean three seconds consistently so he can think about ball placement and not worry about getting his jaw shattered.

By the way, they’ve been saying Tom Brady was cooked for – I think – six years now? Eventually when he actually is done, “They” will have been right all along.

Steelers’ Loss to Packers Doesn’t Count

The television broadcast, for more than an entire half of this NFL game, had the incorrect score chyroned right on the screen. Shame on the Columbia Broadcasting System for that; in a multi-billion dollar industry there really is no excuse for such unprofessionalism.

In the waning seconds of the second quarter, Green Bay attempted a field goal from within the Pittsburgh 15 yard-line. Minkah blocked the kick and took it to the house, but Joe Haden was so fast off the line he was flagged for offsides. Watch it again in full-speed so it’s fresh in your mind before we try and digest this:

It was one of those plays where the referee goes “I don’t know what just happened, but it’s gotta be illegal.” Remember Matt Walsh’s reverend/referee character from Semi-Pro trying to process what he had just seen after the first alley-oop in basketball history?

“Foul…no, two fouls!”

To me, it looks like Haden jumped the snap absolutely perfectly. Unsurprisingly, Haden agrees:

From the horse’s mouth

So does officiating guru Gene Steratore, via Twitter:

Steratore’s tweet has the slo-mo

It looks like the long snapper had a bit of wind up to the snap, where the ball comes up off the ground before it is propelled backwards. The instant that ball moves the play has started and Haden is free to come across the line. As Steratore points out, those two actions appear to occur simultaneously.

As an offensive lineman you can’t sneeze, you can’t scratch your nose, you can’t lift your head or you’ve committed a false start. Steelers fans should remember this little exchange from 2019:

Remember Cam Canaday?

We all remember what else happened in 2019 that made defense and special teams particularly integral for the Steelers piecing together a winning season. Sadly, times aren’t so different now with Ben in the autumn of his playing career.

Back to the matter at hand. At the time of this “infraction” the score was 14-10 GB. They obviously made the re-kick to go up 17-10, but the Packers should have been losing 17-14 when they received the second half kickoff. Nobody can say how that would have affected the remainder of the game, but you can bet the Steelers would have kicked that FG instead of running another swing pass to Najee on fourth down towards the end of the third quarter.

It was a 10-point swing in a game that was decided by 10 points. I’m sure Tomlin and Co. are done thinking about it and are busying themselves with visions of sugarplums and Broncos. As far as I’m concerned, however, the result of this game is officially under protest.

Film Room: Steelers Lose at Lambeau

The most frustrating losses are the ones that didn’t have to be. The plays were there to be made, but Pittsburgh didn’t make enough of them yesterday. Let’s take a look at some of the good and some of the bad from the trip to Green Bay.

This was the end of the Packers’ first drive. Before the snap Pittsburgh had 6 men at the line. The RT was ready to drop anchor for LB TJ Watt, but at the snap Watt comes out of his 3-point stance and he and CB Cam Sutton drop into coverage. The line struggles to adjust (DE’s Cam Heyward and Chris Wormley each take on two blockers) and MLB Devin Bush comes in clean for the sack, and when I say clean I mean sparkling. It certainly wasn’t how Green Bay chalked it up, but it was more than just a miscommunication. Great work by Keith Butler using scheme and deception to cause confusion up front.

Devin Bush’s first sack of the year

I don’t want to say TJ’s bark is worse than his bite because he can 100% back up any claim he makes. He scares opposing offenses to the extent that they are forced to account for him with double- and triple-teams, and he has earned that level of respect through the years. But when you force opponents to scheme for him, you create an enormous amount of leverage by dropping him out of there.

By the way, take another look at the RT in slo-mo. Notice anything peculiar?

Even when he’s coming after you he can still get up and make plays in the air. Look how quick he gets into the passing lane here. It looks like Rogers dropped down his arm angle to get that ball out and sailed it wide.

TJ Watt disrupts a pass

This play was eerily similar to the Terrell Edmunds INT from last week. Last week it was Devin Bush forcing the crossing route upfield which created a high throw that Minkah was able to tip to Terrell Edmunds. This week it’s CB Arthur Maulet (who gets away with a bit of a hold) but was right there with Randall Cobb, forcing a tough ball that was closer to being turned around the other way than being caught by anyone in green.

Minkah with another “almost INT”

By the way, Maulet had 3 tackles yesterday, all were solo stops, and 2 were for a loss. He’s got room to grow, but his willingness to engage in the physical aspects of the game make Mike Hilton’s loss taste a bit less sour.

On the play immediately before the infamous negated blocked FG, Joe Schobert was working in coverage on Packers RB Aaron Jones in the end zone. Joe was in great, tight coverage but Rogers was able to throw his guy open and dropped a dime into the bucket on Jones’ back shoulder. Jones made an outstanding (for a running back) adjustment and for a moment appeared to make the catch, but Schobert had an arm in there too and popped the ball out. Jones never established control of the ball; credit Joe Schobert with a Pass Defended. He’s tied for the team lead in that category (3, Heyward) as well as tackles (29).

Joe Schobert showing good coverage in the end zone

Rookie C Kendrick Green probably wasn’t psyched to see #97 DT Kenny Clark lined up in his grill so often. For the most part the team handled him well, although he did recover the strip sack on Ben.

On this play Clark isn’t lined up over Green but appears to be a 2-technique even with LG Kevin Dotson. Green is so fast here getting off the ball and into Clark’s body he actually takes Clark laterally off Dotson’s block, and the double-team forced him five yards backward. For an under-sized center going up against an over-sized defensive tackle, he certainly handled himself well.

The line was finally able to get a push semi-consistently for the first time in more than a year

This next one is from the “not so good” pile for Green. The Packers bring 6 guys to the line, with the ILB’s in the A-gaps. There are three rushers on each side of Green, he has help from RB Kalen Ballage on the QB’s right flank, and the game-wrecker Kenny Clark is to his left. All of this points to Green has to be shading left here; instead his initial read is the ILB to his right, who bluffs a blitz before dropping into coverage. As a result Green is left without a dance partner. Fortunately Ballage steps up to bail him (and Roethlisberger) out. Ben was throwing hot to DJ all the way but you don’t need that arm banging into yellow helmets on the follow through.

Quick slant to DJ