Recap provided by 93.7 The Fan:

The past two week Steelers Quarterback Ben Roethlisberger has worn “Stronger Than Hate” cleats to honor the 11 lives lost during the Tree of Life synagogue shooting on October 27.

In Baltimore, Roethlisberger wore white cleats that said “Stronger Than Hate” on them and last week against Carolina at home, Roethlisberger wore a black pair that had the 11 victims’ names on black cleats.

Jennifer Halle, an employee at the Fan’s brother station KDKA Radio, lost her uncle during the shooting. Halle was so touched by Roethlisberger’s gesture she wrote a hand-written note to thank Roethlisberger for honoring her uncle and the 10 other lives lost.

“That’s touching. That means a lot. Obviously I’m so sorry for her loss as well. So is everybody who lost somebody that they knew or loved those weeks ago . . . in Baltimore I just wore the kind of plain white with the “Stronger Than Hate” logo on it. That’s the first game since the incident, obviously the first game was the next day,” said Roethlisberger.

Roethlisberger said during his weekly show on The Fan, it was a way to honor, remember and think about the victims.

“Carolina was our first home game since we had some time to reflect and everything. I had some shoes made. They had the ‘Stronger Than Hate’ logo on the back and then had all the victims’ names on the toe. Really it was just a way for me to really honor those people and their families. You know, so many times it’s easy for people that weren’t directly affected, you know someone like me or somebody that didn’t have an immediate family member or whatever, to just kind of move on. And it’s not easy for other people that did lose somebody to just move on. And so I’ve always said how proud I was of all the guys on our team that we’ve been able to give the fans, give those people maybe three hours of a break. Not to forget, but just to kind of take their mind off it for a little while. And we’ve been able to do that the last few weeks.”

Roethlisberger adds he and some […]

“We have a lot of weapons and the offensive line protects well. I can’t say enough about how well they played. It’s a really good defense and they protected me tonight. It’s a good team win against a really good team.” — Ben. More from Ben’s post-game interview here.

“Ben is the Steelers Digest Player of the Week!”

From Bob Labriola, Steelers.com:

Winning in the NFL doesn’t require perfect play from the quarterback, but if a team gets perfect play from its quarterback, things certainly are a whole lot easier. Thursday night against the Carolina Panthers at Heinz Field, the Steelers got perfect play from their quarterback, and that got them off on the right foot for what turned into a 52-21 victory over the Carolina Panthers.

Ben Roethlisberger completed 22-of-25 (88 percent) for 328 yards, with five touchdowns, no interceptions, and a perfect 158.3 rating. Roethlisberger also ran three times for 27 yards, and for all of that he is the Steelers Digest Player of the Week.


You can read more from Mr. Labriola here.

You can see more great game photos from Mr. Karl Roser here.





“Ben Roethlisberger has Steelers playing like team possessed”

From Jeremy Fowler, ESPN.com:

The liveliest party of the year just took place in Heinz Field, where they danced so hard in the end zone that they ran out of touchdown celebrations, and that’s when they weren’t throwing Cam Newton to the turf.

The Pittsburgh Steelers weren’t lying when they said they were just getting started.

The 52-21 pounding of the Panthers on Thursday tied for the most points allowed in Carolina history and showed that the Steelers look ready to make their own history. Carolina last gave up 52 points on Christmas Eve in 2000 against the Oakland Raiders.

If Ben Roethlisberger can continue to deliver masterpieces like this against a good defense, the Steelers — winners of five straight — might have their best chance at a Super Bowl since the early Mike Tomlin years.

Roethlisberger finished 22-of-25 passing for 328 yards, five touchdowns and a perfect passer rating of 158.3, the third such game of his career. He hit every throw, as if tossing into a big net. The Steelers worked the no-huddle offense, Roethlisberger’s specialty, on a short week, […]

For tonight’s game: In honor and remembrance of the victims of the shooting at Tree of Life Synagogue. We will never forget! Love is Stronger Than Hate! — Ben.

“I don’t need to give him advice. He’s Superman.” — Ben’s response when asked (?) what advice he would give Cam Newton in prolonging his career.

Recapped by Teresa Varley, Steelers.com:

The Steelers went back to work on Tuesday, a short week to prepare for Thursday night’s game against the Carolina Panthers at Heinz Field.

And to add to the difficulty of preparing on a short week, the team is coming off a physical game against the Baltimore Ravens on Sunday.

“That is probably the toughest part, is the physicality of the game before. Playing Baltimore,” said Ben Roethlisberger. “Everyone knows that is going to be one of the most physical games of the year. We have a couple of days to get ready for another physical team.”

And the best way to prepare, allow your body to recover as much as possible.

“Rest,” said Roethlisberger. “Just try to do what you can to get as healthy as you can.”

Another issue the short week presents is game-planning. Normally there are three full days and the Saturday walk-through to go over everything. This week, it’s two days.

“We’ll be able to throw some new stuff, some new things in there, but not like a typical work week or game plan week where you have a lot of things,” said Roethlisberger. “We’ll have to rely on the no-huddle and some things we have done over the weeks and years.”

Roethlisberger loves to run the no-huddle, something the offense has done with a lot of success, including last week against the Ravens. And it can be the perfect solution for this week because it’s something they have a comfort level with.

“The familiarity of it,” said Roethlisberger. “We have been doing no-huddle stuff and those plays for a long time. Not throwing something new, just the understanding of it. We have been doing it for a while. We know it pretty well. We did it last week in Baltimore well. Just being able to pick up the pace and the tempo and the familiarity of it.”


You can read more & watch Ben’s interview here.

Okay, so it’s only Monday morning, but with the short week (another game on Thursday), Ben’s show was pushed up a day:

Steelers Quarterback Ben Roethlisberger says he is thankful the hit he took Sunday in Baltimore wasn’t more serious, but that he is definitely feeling it Monday.

During the #1 Cochran Ben Roethlisberger Show Monday Morning, Ben talked about the hit he took that knocked the wind out of him in the fourth quarter Sunday that gave Steelers quite the scare.

During his longest run of the day, Roethlisberger took a hard hit from Ravens outside linebacker Za’Darius Smith.

“I didn’t know he was right behind me and I was heading to that sideline, I saw that first down marker and I was trying to get there. Boy, when you don’t see it coming, it hurts a lot worse,” said Roethlisberger.

When asked about what went through his head as he was lying on the field Roethlisberger said,

“You feel a very big person coming down on top of you and when you hit the ground, instantly you just kind of feel pain, you feel shortness of breath, you feel a little bit of everything, I’ll be honest, but pain mostly. Then as I’m lying there…I had to stay in the fetal position because I couldn’t even straighten my legs because I couldn’t breathe. You just hear the doctors and you hear everybody ‘What’s going on? What’s going on?’ And you want to answer them but you really can’t.”

He then described going through a “check list” of making sure he was okay.

“Okay, shoulder…a little sore, but I think it’s okay. Collarbone…feels okay, [and] then goes the whole check list thing. Once I got on the sideline more, your wind starts coming back to you.”

Roethlisberger added that he was “Lucky and blessed that I did not get more than the wind knocked me. Everything from my collar bone to mid-section is in extreme pain.”

While he was out for a play getting his wind back, backup quarterback Josh Dobbs came in and hit Juju Smith-Schuster for a 22 yard pass to get a first down. It was Dobbs first NFL pass.

“I thought that was awesome. I had no idea what the play was, and I looked […]