USA TODAY Sports
Ben Roethlisberger was hit by Neville Gallimore, who inadvertently slammed the quarterback into DeMarcus Lawrence. It did not look good, especially when the Steelers quarterback immediately grabbed his left knee.
The Steelers called a timeout, so Roethlisberger could stay in the game.
He then threw four consecutive completions, including a 17-yard touchdown to James Washington with 1:10 left in the half.
But Roethlisberger immediately left for the locker room, missing three offensive snaps after the Steelers got the ball back on a CeeDee Lamb fumble and converted with a franchise-record 59-yard field goal by Chris Boswell.
“Someone hit me right on the side of the knee,” Roethlisberger said, via Brooke Pryor of ESPN. “Felt like it kind of bent my knee a little bit. Part of the game of football. Guys get hit all the time. Have some discomfort and so we thought, end of the half, we’ll head in and get it looked at. Doc just wanted me to keep him updated the second half, so I was just keeping it loose and keeping it warm.”
Roethlisberger went 14-of-19 for 111 yards and a touchdown in the first half. He was 15-of-23 for 195 yards and two touchdowns in the second half in bringing the Steelers back from a 10-point fourth-quarter deficit. The Steelers trailed by as many as 13 points.
“I didn’t want to let my guys down,” Roethlisberger said. “I think so many times the line and guys are looking at me on the sideline, they’re like, ‘All right Ben; we believe in you.’ I just don’t want to let them down. I want to give everything I have and fight. I wish that we didn’t have those fourth-quarter comebacks.
“I wish that I played better early in the games and that we were up, and we didn’t have to do it. But that’s the way it is. If we have to have a situation like this where we have to score late or win in the fourth quarter, as long as we win, I’ll take it.”
