Finally, it seems as though Ben's arm strength is missing. He had Cedrick Wilson wide open against the Bengals...and badly underthrew him. Then, in San Diego, he missed a wide-open Heath Miller.
Do not get me wrong: Ben Roethlisberger is my favorite player. He is the Derek Jeter of football: not always good, but great when he has to be. Ben has never been, nor will ever really be, a 300 yard and three touchdown quarterback. What I like about Ben...scratch that...what I absolutely LOVE about Ben is his ability to make a play when it counts. During any given game, Ben might only have 180 yards passing, but 150 of those yards come on third and long.
I've watched every single Steelers game for 13 years; hence, I have seen Ben play a "few" times. He does not always look good, but when the game is on the line, he finds a way to win...and rarely makes the crucial mistake.
That said, on Sunday night, Ben made the crucial mistake...twice. As he did against the Bengals. And, against the Jaguars.
You can hate Ben all you want: I'm fine with that. You can mock his stats: I could care less. Because, to me, Ben wins...however...by any means necessary...often...and when it counts. The sooner he gets back to doing that, the sooner the Steelers start winning. In other words, I foresee Ben getting back to his old form, and in turn, the Steelers will go 15-0 the rest of the season. (For those of you bad at math: that is the twelve remaining regular season games, and the three games needed to win Super Bowl XLI.)
I know that I am the world's biggest optimist, but the Steelers are not that far removed from being an elite team. For example, if one closely looks at Sunday night's loss, the Steelers were in the game until the very end...despite being stomped upon during the second half. In other words, while the second half was a butt-kicking by the Chargers, the first half (or 28 minutes of it) was owned by the Steelers. For example, at one point in the second quarter, the Chargers had negative two total yards. Meanwhile, the Steelers had 214 total yards at half-time. (Note: the Steelers gaining 214 yards in a half on San Diego's stout defense is a remarkable achievement.)
Again, the Chargers owned the second half...but, it was far from a "full game" trouncing. In other words, the Steelers prevailed for 28 minutes, and the Chargers dominated for 32 minutes. Those 4 minutes were the difference in the game...as in, the Chargers stomped on the Steelers for an extra four minutes, which makes all the difference when two high-caliber teams meet.
Again, if Ben does not throw two interceptions, the game is well within reach for Pittsburgh.
Starting the season 1-3 is bad. But, in 1995, the Steelers were 3-4, and made it to the Super Bowl. In short, all is not lost...yet. Although, the ship needs to be turned around rather quickly.
