Ben Roethlisberger is not a happy camper, to say the least. Two games ago, the Pittsburgh Steelers were the only undefeated team in the land and viewed as the frontrunner to potentially dethrone the Kansas City Chiefs in 2020, but their armor has now been fractured. Their loss to the Buffalo Bills in Week 14 marks their first two-game losing streak of the season, and they’re averaging just 16 points per game since defeating the Baltimore Ravens on Dec. 2.
Needless to say, Roethlisberger believes the Steelers are capable of performing better than they are currently, but he’s putting a lot of the blame on his own shoulders — to the point he’s not biting his tongue about what might come next if his play doesn’t improve.
“I’m not playing good enough football for us to win,” he said, via The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. “If I don’t play good enough football, I need to hang it up. I’m going to do everything I can to get back on track.”
The 38-year-old returned in 2020 from season-ending elbow surgery undergone in 2019 and has mostly played well this year, that is until recently. Three of his six interceptions have come in the two losses, and two of those three were given to the Bills at points in the game when the Steelers were attempting to establish momentum. His 187 passing yards in Buffalo were also just 25 five yards shy of tying his season-low of 162 passing yards in Week 6 against the Cleveland Browns, but Roethlisberger didn’t turn the ball over in that 38-7 thumping of their AFC North rival.
It’s not the first time the two-time Super Bowl champion and six-time Pro Bowler has had to figure out how to bounce back, and he’ll get back to work on doing so this week against the Cincinnati Bengals. As for his allusion to retiring if he for some reason can’t, well, it’s not the first time he’s danced with the topic.
In 2017, then three years younger and staring at his 14th year in the league, Roethlisberger wouldn’t commit to playing beyond the coming season after the Steelers’ loss to the Patriots in the AFC Championship — his reason being rather straightforward.
“Age,” he said. “It’s just, it’s 14 years. That’s a long time. I think the average life expectancy in the NFL is three years, maybe 3.5 now. I’ve been blessed to do this a long time. I think it’s just seeing my kids growing up and in the offseason I love getting to spend time with them, and then I come here and football season just has to take up so much of your time.
“Even when you get home, I try my best to turn it off when I walk in the front door. I think I do a pretty good job of that but it still consumes you in a way. Just all those things combined — being healthy, being able to play catch with my kids. I feel good mentally, I know this new study that came out that 90 percent [of NFL] players’ brains who were studied had CTE.
“There’s a lot of scary things, and I think my wife would be OK if I hung it up, too. But I still love the guys, I still love the game, so it was right for me to come back and give it everything I have this year.”
He’s still lacing them up in 2020, but it’s fair to wonder how much longer the two-time NFL passing leader will be around — all things considered.
Having signed a two-year extension in 2019, Roethlisberger is under contract through the 2021 season, and the current plan is for him to be in a Steelers uniform next season. In his own words though, if he continues to play poorly, he’ll probably reconsider. Of course, that’s all to be determined because, as it stands, the Steelers are still 11-2 and one of the best teams in the NFL. It’s all about getting back to their winning ways to close out the regular season — to take momentum into January.
