Recap provided by 93.7 The Fan & CBS Pittsburgh:

A report from ESPN’s Jeremy Fowler Monday says that Steelers running back Le’Veon Bell will return to the Steelers during the week 7 bye and be ready to play Week 8 when the Browns come to Heinz Field.

Steelers quarterback Ben Roethlisberger tells The Fan during his weekly radio show that he’s heard a lot of reports over the last few months and would be excited if and when Le’veon Bell reports.

“He’s been a teammate of ours and a really good football player so I hope he can come in and help us. Right now we could take some help but I think the key is if and when he gets here, I’m sure he’s not going to be in ready-to-go football shape getting the ball 30 times a game. But we don’t necessarily need that, James has done a really great job and I know people will probably scratch their heads when I say James has been doing good because he hasn’t gotten a lot of rushing yards. But, what we’ve asked him to do: picking up blitzes, pass protecting, catching the ball out of the backfield, it’s been awesome.”

Some negative things were said about Bell when he didn’t report during the first of the season but Roethlisberger says that it is all in the past and they are ready to move on with Bell as their teammate.

“Yeah, if he can come back and help us and be ready to go then we’ll be ready to welcome him back. A lot of things were said earlier in the year but that’s kind of in the past, we’ve moved on. Hopefully he’s moving on in the sense of getting back and ready to get with us.” ​

Roethlisberger says the team is going to spend time Wednesday to figure out why they have gotten off to a slow start the first four games of the season and that he takes responsibility for Sunday’s loss to Baltimore.

“When you have an off day as the quarterback at your position it’s really hard for the rest of the team to pick up your slack and it’s hard to win football games when you have a bad day so that’s why you hope you […]

Ben after the game:

“I just didn’t make enough plays, point blank. I’ll take ownership of that game, squarely on me. I apologize to the fans, my teammates. I just wasn’t good enough.”

When asked whether he felt he wasn’t on the same page with Antonio Brown:

“I don’t think I’m on the same page with anybody right now. I’m not playing well enough. I need to play better. Today was just a bad day at the office. I promise I’ll be back to play better!”

Then this happened after the game:

“Two great players showing respect to each other, exchanging jerseys after the game.” — Chad Steele, Ravens Public Relations (who also took the photos).

“I’ve been a part of this rivalry for 16 years. That team has raised my level of play. Even rivals can show respect. The player I am is because of the Pittsburgh Steelers.” — Terrell Suggs.

Benjamin Jr. gets a lesson on respecting your opponent, whether it’s in a win or a loss!



Terrell Suggs posted a photo of his autographed Roethlisberger jersey on Instagram. The inscription from Ben reads:

“Sizzle, It’s an honor to compete against you! First ballot HOF!”

You can read all news & watch the interviews from the game at Steelers.com.

…and it was worth every mile!


From Teresa Varley, Steelers.com:

Sometimes you hear people say the ‘smile never left their face.’

On Friday, take my word, the smile never left Camden Elson’s face.

Elson, who is from Anchorage, Alaska, was a guest at Steelers practice at the UPMC Rooney Sports Complex through the Make-A-Wish Foundation. The 17-year old suffered an anoxic brain injury when he was 11-years old, and his wish was to meet his favorite team, including his favorite players Ben Roethlisberger and Antonio Brown.




“We are all Steelers fans,” said his mother Angela Elson. “Before his injury he played for the Pop Warner Steelers. He has been a fan since he was five or six years old. We added an addition to the house to accommodate things after his injury, and his room is all Steelers.”

Elson will also be at Heinz Field on Sunday night to see the Steelers take on the Ravens in a primetime matchup.


You can read more here.


Hope you bring ’em luck, Camden!!

“The Bucs blitzed Roethlisberger, and he burned them.” — Thomas Bassinger.

More from Mr. Bassinger at the Tampa Bay Times:

The Bucs spent the first two weeks of the season rewriting the rules about how the Bucs play football. The new Bucs jump on teams early. They score 50-yard touchdowns. They protect the football like DeSean Jackson protects his gold chains.

There was bound to be some regression. But no one expected regression all the way back to 2017. At least that’s what it felt like we were watching Monday night. A mistake-filled first half. A double-digit deficit. A furious comeback. And, ultimately, a letdown. Just like the loss to the Cardinals last season. And the Bills. And the Falcons.

The second half was fun, but it was largely noise. The game already had been decided.

The Bucs had only one deep safety, meaning that Grimes was one-on-one with Brown. If Brown beats Grimes off the line of scrimmage, it’s an easy touchdown. The problem is that Grimes flat out missed the tackle. Missed tackles were an issue all night long for the Bucs. They missed a season-high 10.

There’s more to that play than Grimes’ missed tackle: The Bucs blitzed Roethlisberger, and he burned them. He got the ball to Brown so quickly that the extra rusher didn’t even faze him.

When we talk about blitzing, we often talk about the rewards and disregard the risk. The Bucs haven’t been a high-percentage blitz team in recent seasons, and for good reason. They’re not particularly effective at it, and they could use the help in coverage.

Almost every defensive coordinator will tell you he wouldn’t blitz if he didn’t feel like he had to. He’d prefer to generate pressure with his front four linemen alone.

Veteran quarterbacks will exploit the open windows that a blitz creates, as Roethlisberger did repeatedly Monday. He was nearly flawless against the blitz, completing 10 of 12 passes for 162 yards and a perfect 158.3 quarterback rating, according to Pro Football Focus. He threw all three of his touchdown passes while being blitzed.

On Roethlisberger’s first touchdown pass, he diagnosed that the Bucs were in man coverage, and as soon as he saw linebacker Lavonte David rush, he dropped a pass into the zone David had vacated.

On his third touchdown pass, the […]

“What a crazy game! We will take a win any way we can get it. I am proud of the way the guys fought all the way until the end.” — Ben, on the field with Lisa Salter post-game.

From Bob Labriola, Steelers.com: Ben is Digest Player of the Week

Looking for their first win of the season, the Steelers figured to need a big night from their offense, which automatically means they were going to need a big night from their quarterback.

And Ben Roethlisberger delivered. He completed 30-of-38 for 353 yards, with three touchdowns, one interception, and a rating of 120.7. Roethlisberger also ran one quarterback sneak for 2 yards and another first down in the Steelers 30-27 win over Tampa Bay. Roethlisberger is the Steelers Digest Player of the Week.


You can read more from Mr. Labriola and check out all the highlights from the game, as well as Ben’s post-game interview here.



Ben Stats:

– With this win, Ben ties Dan Marino for the 4th most career games of at least 350 passing yards & 3 passing TD with 19.

– With this win, Coach Tomlin and Ben now have 107 regular-season wins together – tying Chuck Noll/Terry Bradshaw for most by a Steelers Head Coach-Quarterback, and for the third-most by a Head Coach-Quarterback tandem in NFL history.

– With this win, Ben has tied Joe Montana & Tom Brady for the third most career victories as a starting QB on Monday Night Football with 15.



Ben’s play was nothing new for Steeler Nation:





And check out those cleats!