From Ben’s radio show this morning on 93.7 The Fan:

Ben addressed the talk out there that he was calling out specific players or coaches for the lack of discipline.

“I never specifically said coaches, I never specifically said players, I said ‘players and coaches’…It’s a generalization that you see undisciplined things. You watch the film yesterday and you see undisciplined play, undisciplined actions in plays.”

How does that get fixed? Ben says he knows how.

“It’s tough, it has to come from within and it has to come from coaches. We have to be able to hold ourselves accountable and hold each other accountable. I’ve said that before on this show and I’ve said it in the locker room before, it’s the guys. You point the thumb at yourself, you don’t point the finger. So everyone needs to just take a look at themselves, myself included.”

There was a report from the NFL Network that Ben had a private meeting with Mike Tomlin last week to help demand more urgency and exactness from the team and Ben said there was too much made of his sit down with the head coach.

“It always amazes me how the NFL Network, like do they bug everything? Do they assume they know everything?” Ben said. “I always wonder where they get this information. Being the quarterback and being a veteran and leader on this team, Coach Tomlin and I have talked multiple times a week. There’s probably never a week that goes by where we don’t have a behind closed-door talk…so when they make this a big drama, like we went in and shut the door and hashed things out or whatever it is, it’s completely false. I shouldn’t say that, it’s true in the sense that we went in and sat down, but we do that every week anyway.”


You can read more and listen to audio from his show here.



Also Today: What did the Cowboys’ think of that fake spike?


From D. Davidson at The Fort Worth Star-Telegram:

Ben Roethlisberger caught the Dallas Cowboys off guard. At least in DeMarcus Lawrence’s mind.

Roethlisberger found his inner Dan Marino late in Sunday’s game, faking a spike and lofting a perfect pass to Antonio Brown for a 15-yard touchdown. At […]

“We’ll chew this up. We’ve just got to make plays, and be accountable. Be disciplined….we need to get their quick.” — Ben, post-game.

With time running out, Roethlisberger made a call that the Cowboys weren’t expecting. The defense thought Roethlisberger was going to spike the ball, but instead he gave Antonio Brown a ‘look’ and threw a 15-yard touchdown pass to him.

“Ben made a great call,” said Brown. “We knew in that situation that they were expecting us to spike the ball. Ben shot me a signal, and we were able to execute in that situation. It was all Ben. We practice that situation. Just being ready, I got his eyes, he gave me a good signal, and we were able to execute.”

The Steelers took a 30-29 lead at that point, but weren’t able to hold on.

“I called it. He (Brown) saw me call it,” said Roethlisberger. “Todd (Haley) was in my head yelling, ‘Don’t waste a down.’ But I knew what we were doing, so I’m glad it worked.” — Teresa Varley, Steelers.com recap.

“Steelers quarterback Ben Roethlisberger wasn’t letting his team lose. He just ran out of time. Roethlisberger — who publicly told teammates earlier in the week to “follow me” — walked calmly onto the field with his eyes fixated on a 75-yard, game-winning drive.

The Steelers used a bold strategy that set up the offense well: Let Elliott score a 14-yard touchdown with 1:55 left, giving Ben Roethlisberger the ball with two timeouts and a 29-24 deficit.

Missing three two-point conversions hurt the Steelers, but they regained an advantage by negating Dallas’ ability to milk the clock for a potential game-winning field goal.

Roethlisberger was brilliant in completing five straight passes, including a fake spike, Dan Marino style, to set up a lob pass to Antonio Brown over the top for a 15-yard score, catching Dallas sleeping with 42 seconds left. Roethlisberger threw for 191 yards in the fourth quarter alone….

Against the league’s hottest team, even a hot Big Ben wasn’t enough.

— Jeremy Fowler, ESPN.com.

“Roethlisberger completed 37-of-46 for 408 yards, with three touchdowns, no interceptions, and a rating of 125.4 in a game the Steelers would end up losing, 35-30, to the Dallas Cowboys. And included in Roethlisberger’s numbers was a 5-for-5 for 75 yards and a touchdown on the fourth quarter possession that ended up […]

“Each December on National Wreaths Across America Day, our mission to Remember, Honor and Teach is carried out by coordinating wreath-laying ceremonies at Arlington National Cemetery, as well as over 1,100 additional locations in all 50 U.S. states, at sea, and abroad.” — WAA website.

It’s not just about this one day out of the year…

From their website:

“We also organize a week of events including international veteran’s tributes, ceremonies at State Houses and a week-long ‘Veteran’s Parade’ between Maine and Virginia where we stop along the way to spread our message about the importance of remembering our fallen heroes, honoring those who serve, and teaching our children about the sacrifices made by veterans and their families to preserve our freedoms.

“This week of events is made possible by thousands of volunteers who organize local ceremonies, raise funds to sponsor wreaths, and participate in the events. We receive no government funding. The cost of our programs is paid by individual wreaths sponsors, corporate donors and volunteer truckers.”



How can you help?

You can sponsor a wreath, volunteer at an event, donate to or start a local fundraising group, offer trucking support or corporate support!

“We encourage every volunteer who places a wreath on a veteran’s grave to say that veteran’s name aloud and take a moment to thank them for their service to our country. It’s a small act that goes a long way toward keeping the memory of our veterans alive.

We are not here to ‘decorate graves.’ We’re here to remember not their deaths, but their lives.”
— Karen Worcester, Executive Director of Wreaths Across America.

Here are just a few of the many comments left by Steeler Nation on the site’s Facebook page about volunteering for, donating to, and thanking this wonderful organization:

“This is what true Americans do!” – Laurie E. Bowser.


“There was a wreath placed at my grandpa’s grave today at the National Cemetary of the Alleghenies in Pittsburgh.” – Jillian Fecich.

“This company is from here in Maine. I was fortunate enough to meet with some of the drivers as they started their journey. There were 23 trucks that were in the WAA convoy. One special trailer […]

From Peter King, MMQB.com/Sports Illustrated/:

“In this episode I sat down for a conversation with Ben Roethlisberger, quarterback for the Pittsburgh Steelers…

Roethlisberger discusses what the six Super Bowl trophies in the lobby of the Steelers office mean to him, his maturation into a family guy, and whether or not he’s underrated. He also talks about the impact of self-reporting concussion symptoms, as he did once last season.”

You can listen to Mr. King’s full 22-minute interview with Ben right here.

From Teresa Varley at Steelers.com today:

The Steelers are 4-4 at the midway point of the season and Ben Roethlisberger’s focus is not on what has happened, but instead looking forward to what is still to happen.

“I am excited to get going,” said Roethlisberger. “It’s a new week. Everything we have done so far is behind us, good, bad, and indifferent. We are excited for the second half of the football season.”

The team has plenty of time to turn things around, and it begins this week with a tough task as the Dallas Cowboys come to Heinz Field with an impressive 7-1 record. Roethlisberger said there is no reason to panic, and teammates can simply follow his lead to see that is the case.

“Follow me,” said Roethlisberger. “Guys that have been here know, no time, no reason to panic. Just watch me.”

Roethlisberger will be facing a stingy Cowboys defense that hasn’t allowed an opponent to score 24 points this season.

“Just solid, just a solid defense,” said Roethlisberger. “Watching on film it doesn’t seem to be anything exotic. You aren’t looking at exotic blitzes, looks and lineups. They just line up and kick your butt. Big challenge for us.”

Roethlisberger said he plans on being a full participant in practice this week as long as his body responds, and he is going to be needed as the second half of the season can be the most telling half.

“What a challenge this week is, one of, if not the best, teams in football coming to our place,” said Roethlisberger. “November and December football is when it all counts and matters. You want to be playing your best football this time of year. If we want to be playing our best, we have to play the best. One of the best is coming in this week. I am excited for that challenge for all of us.

“We need to be the best football team that we can be on the home, on the road, moving forward.”


More from Ben:

On Cowboys rookie quarterback Dak Prescott and how his rookie season compares to Roethlisberger’s rookie season:

“He’s been awesome. I think very similar to what I had, he’s got a great running game and a good defense, a great defense. He’s not just managing games, he’s […]