Recap of Ben’s “Special Edition” Wednesday (Bye Week) Show with Cook & Poni:

Roethlisberger and the Steelers are heading into the bye week at (6-2) after a 20-15 win over the Detroit Lions on Sunday night. The Steelers are tied with New England and Kansas City for the best record in the AFC at the halfway point of the season.

A big part of the Steelers victory over the Lions this past week was due to the performance of rookie wide receiver Juju Smith-Schuster who has now been named the AFC Offensive Player of the Week and Ben talked about what it means to the team to have him breakout like this.

“It’s fun to watch him,” Ben told us. “The kid just has fun playing football. It’s so innocent, and I don’t want to say it’s just youthful innocence, but he just really enjoys just going out and playing football.”

A big part of Juju’s breakout was the 97-yard touchdown pass he caught and Ben walked us through that play and how it came together.

“We had talked about something earlier in the game where he didn’t get open on a similar type defense because he tried to give a move…On the sidelines when we talked about it previously in the game, I said ‘Next time, don’t try and give him a move, just beat him with speed and see if we can get him because he’s waiting for you to make that move.’ So we got the perfect look…and this time instead of giving the move, he just went fast, went down the middle, at the top of his route just gave a little head nod instead of slowing his feet down and got just enough separation that I could put it over the top and let him run under it and he didn’t break stride as he’s running…We were laughing in the quarterback room though, he must have looked over his shoulder 20 times back and forth like, ‘I’ve got three guys chasing me, who’s gonna catch me?’

Juju did have one mistake where he dropped what could have been a critical third down pass and Ben shared with us that when he congratulated Juju afterwards for his big game, he was still focused on that drop.

“He was sitting there and his […]

Notable quotes from the late game:

“I love this defense. It’s so much fun to watch.” – Ben.

“It’s a blessing, it’s an honor to play here and show the world what the Steelers are made of.” — JuJu Smith-Schuster.

Tweet of the Game:

Dom Rinelli‏ @drinelli
The 97-yard pass from Ben Roethlisberger to JuJu Smith-Schuster is the longest pass play in #Steelers history & ties as longest off. play.


You can watch video of Ben’s post-game press conference here.


You can watch Ben’s pass to JuJu here.


You can read the game-recap here.


And you can see a few game photos here.

From Jeremy Fowler, ESPN.com:

Ask Ben Roethlisberger about Maurkice Pouncey and the ribbing session begins, unprompted.

“We’re not that close. Because he thinks he’s really good. And he’s just OK,” said Roethlisberger from his locker. “Sometimes I wish Mike [Pouncey] was here.”

All this is said for Pouncey to overhear from his locker, which is two stalls down from Roethlisberger’s corner setup.

“Hey, Mike’s gonna love that s—, too,” Pouncey said.

Eight years of huddles, snaps, text messages and dinners make moments like this feel routine for the Pittsburgh Steelers’ quarterback and center.

Or, as Roethlisberger calls it, “being us.”

“We rip each other a little bit, but there’s a lot of love there,” Roethlisberger said.

The Steelers’ colorful offense has the game’s best receiver (Antonio Brown), most disgruntled receiver (Martavis Bryant), most relentless back (Le’Veon Bell) and youngest player (JuJu Smith-Schuster). But at the core are Pouncey and Roethlisberger, two team leaders who are always together and use each other as sounding boards.

The QB-center battery will discuss everything from internet memes to what’s best for the offense.

“If there’s an issue, a lot of times he goes to Maurkice — that’s how the relationship is,” guard Ramon Foster said.

Roethlisberger considers himself an extension of the offensive line, the unit he most needs for success. The receivers, he says, naturally need him because he has the ball. But check most dead moments in practice and Roethlisberger is hanging with Pouncey and the rest of the line.

Roethlisberger took a special liking to Pouncey, who was 21 when the Steelers drafted him in 2010. He felt drawn to him.

“He sees stuff in me that others don’t, I guess,” Pouncey said.

The “stuff” is a fiery persona that carries weight in the locker room. Roethlisberger saw a good player, sure, but also a voice that fuels the Steelers’ intensity throughout the week.

It’s infectious enough that Roethlisberger’s moods run low when Pouncey’s do. Coach Mike Tomlin and former offensive coordinator Bruce Arians used to tell Roethlisberger that his energy, good or bad, affects the rest of the group. And that’s how Roethlisberger feels about Pouncey.

“I told him the other day, something happened, and I said, ‘Pounce, it’s so unusual to see you in a bad mood,'” Roethlisberger said. “When he’s not the same, it kind of brings everybody down. In a way like, […]