A wonderful way to start a Wednesday!
It’s also a Steelers tradition!
Ben and Coach Tomlin enjoy Christmas music performed by the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra this morning.
More photos can be found on the Pittsburgh Steelers Official Facebook page.
And after the Symphony performance and Steelers practice:
Ben talked about game against the Chiefs this weekend right here.
The Ben Roethlisberger Show
Did you miss Ben’s show today?
Check out the highlights right here from 93.7 The Fan & CBS Pittsburgh:
Following a key road victory against the Atlanta Falcons that has his team one win away from clinching a playoff berth, Steelers quarterback Ben Roethlisberger joined “The Cook and Poni Show” for his weekly “Ben Roethlisberger Show.”
Despite the Falcons coming into the game with a record of 5-8, Roethlisberger had stressed all week that they were a good team and reiterated that sentiment.
“Getting a win on the road against a good team, I don’t care what people think and say about numbers and records, they were a good football team,” Roethlisberger said.
Despite not throwing for a touchdown, Roethlisberger still had a solid performance going 27 of 35 for 360 yards. He talked about one of the more impressive plays he was a part of – Antonio Brown’s 28-yard catch, which he just managed to get both feet in bounds.
“I didn’t want to take anything away from the catch because the things he can do are flat out special,” Roethlisberger said. “We see it almost every single day in practice, so when you see it every day, I think I get more surprised when he doesn’t. If he wouldn’t have made it, I would have been more shocked than surprised. The outside world and the fans, when they see that catch they rave about it, which they should because it was a phenomenal catch and phenomenal footwork. It’s like when Heath Miller drops a pass in practice, we all stop and laugh and act like the world is coming to an end because things like that don’t happen.”
Playing with a lot of young guys on his offense, Roethlisberger talked about their flourishing offense, but said there are still areas where they can be better.
“We feel like we’re doing a lot of good things, but we still feel like there’s some mistakes being made,” Ben said. “It’s not big things, it’s just little things here and there. The good news in my eyes, is that we still feel like we can get better. Obviously, the O-line is playing great and [Le’Veon] Bell is having an MVP-caliber season and AB is doing what he’s doing, but we still have some little things here and […]
Terrell Suggs favorite QB?
You guessed it, but probably not for the reason you think!
From Matt Grassie, Yahoo Sports today:
“I just like tackling quarterbacks,” said Suggs on The Dan Patrick Show. “But I do have my favorite.”
Though Patrick was initially curious about Suggs’ desire to bring down rookie quarterback, and thorn in the side of NFL veterans everywhere, Johnny Manziel, the Ravens’ outside linebacker had another signal-caller in mind: Ben Roethlisberger. And according to Suggs, one major reason a sack of the sizable Steelers’ quarterback is so satisfying is the difficulty of the feat.
“He’s very tough,” said Suggs. “It’s tougher than everyone thinks. He’s probably the toughest quarterback in the NFL to sack just because of his physical stature.”
Roethlisberger is listed at 6 feet 5 inches tall and 241 pounds. Suggs estimates the 32-year-old is an inch taller than he’s listed. As for the weight, we’d wager that Roethlisberger hasn’t been under 250 pounds since the day he was drafted. The combination of size and mobility makes for a pass-rusher’s nightmare, and Suggs has plenty of anecdotes describing what it’s like to try to bring down “Big Ben.”
“There was one time,” said Suggs. “It was a Sunday-night game in Baltimore in 2010 (photo above). They had just gotten a turnover and I was trying to get the ball back and I just couldn’t get him down. He was able to escape from me and throw the ball out of bounds.”
You can read more here.
Ben has been nominated for the FedEx Air Player once again!
“Roethlisberger threw for 360 yards for a 109.2 passer rating in the Steelers’ 27-20 win over the Atlanta Falcons.”
Also nominated are Alex Smith (297 yards/2 TD’s in the Chiefs’ 31-13 win against the Raiders), and Drew Brees (375 yards/3 touchdowns in the Saints’ 31-15 win over the Bears).
You can cast your vote here.
Steelers 27, Falcons 20
“I’m a guy who never wants to have a losing season. Eight gets you a non-losing season. We got nine, and we’re going for 10 now.” — Ben.
From the AP tonight:
The Pittsburgh Steelers are no longer stuck on eight wins.
Ben Roethlisberger made sure of that.
Roethlisberger threw for 360 yards, pushing his season total to a career high, and capped his performance with a third-down pass to Heath Miller that clinched the Pittsburgh Steelers’ 27-20 victory over the Atlanta Falcons on Sunday.
Gil Brandt @Gil_Brandt
Ben Roethlisberger broke his own Steelers single-season passing record with 4,344 yards. #PITvsATL
William Gay scored off an interception return for the Steelers (9-5), who remained a half-game behind Cincinnati in the AFC North with their second straight win. The Bengals stayed on top of the division by routing Cleveland 30-0.
“We’re not a perfect group by any stretch,” Steelers coach Mike Tomlin said, “but we’re a group that will fight to the end together.”
With Roethlisberger, they always seem to have a fighting chance.
He’s on a mission to get Pittsburgh back to the playoffs after they missed the last two years, going 8-8 each time. This was his third straight game with more than 300 yards passing, and eighth of the season.
Burt Lauten @SteelersPRBurt
.@steelers QB @_BigBen7 has now defeated all other 31 teams in the @nfl
Pittsburgh led 13-0 after Gay picked off Matt Ryan’s pass over the middle on the first play of the second quarter, returning it for a 52-yard TD. The Steelers extended the lead to 27-13 with Le’Veon Bell’s second touchdown, a 13-yard run in the opening minute of the fourth period.
The Falcons made a game of it, pulling within a touchdown on Ryan’s 4-yard pass to Roddy White.
But the Steelers wrapped up the victory by running the final 4:34 off the clock. They converted twice on third down, the clincher coming when Roethlisberger found Miller all alone for a 25-yard completion on third-and-1 from the Atlanta 39.
Roethlisberger completed 27 of 35 and increased his season total to 4,415 yards, surpassing his previous franchise record of 4,328 from 2009 with two games to go. Bell also scored on a 1-yard run, but fell short of becoming the first player in NFL history with four straight 200-yard games in total yardage.
You […]
“Thank you Ben!”
On December 4th, Ben announced that his alma mater, Miami University, would be receiving a grant from the Ben Roethlisberger Foundation. At the time, MU Officer Keith Hibberd thanked Ben for his generosity:
“Thank you Ben for giving back to your alma mater, Miami University, and supporting our mission of keeping our campus and surrounding communities safe.”
As it turns out – he wasn’t finished, and wasn’t the only one that wanted to thank Ben for the grant to the University! The grant will be used for training that will not only benefit MU, but surrounding agencies who will be able to train at venues on the campus. Below are some awesome photos with thoughts from those agencies that will be positively affected by this grant.
Check out this photo: It’s MUPD K-9 Figo posing in front of Big Ben’s locker!
“The results handlers are able to achieve from their K-9 partners are a reflection of the work they put in. Joint training has enabled regional handlers to get the best possible results from their partners. Both human and animal.” — Patrol Office Keith Hibbard, Miami University Police Department.
In these photos: Patrol Officer Keith Hibbard of the Miami University Police Department with his K9 partner, Figo, and Deputy U.S. Marshal Aaron Fisher, Department of Justice (top left). Deputy Dan Kissing, K-9 Knut and Investigator Ron Stemen of the State of Ohio Fire Marshal Office (top right). Officer Patrick Murray of the Cincinnati Police Department and his K-9 partner, Duke (bottom right). Officer Ryan Sikora of the Oxford Police Department, and his K-9 partner, Cole (bottom left).
“The grant that was awarded to the Miami University Police Department K-9 unit will allow for continued effective joint training, leading to seamless operations between K-9 teams. This forward thinking allows for a greater preparation in real world instances when we’re needed.” — Deputy U.S. Marshal Aaron Fisher, Department of Justice.
“The Ohio Division of State Fire Marshal would like to thank the Ben Roethlisberger Foundation for their continued support of police and fire working K-9 teams. With the continued support of public and private groups, like Ben’s, the success of each K-9 team is limitless.” — […]
Media Day: Ben talks Atlanta Falcons
“I have been fortunate to play with a Hall of Famer in Jerome (Bettis), I know he is. When I came in, to have a leader and a player like that was so beneficial. One of the great running backs of all time and it’s awesome. I think that Bell is on his way. (He’s) still young but the things that he can do in all three phases of the game to run, to catch the ball and to block are some of the most special things I’ve ever seen a running back do.” — Ben, on Le’Veon Bell.
From Steelers.com today:
Re: The mentality in facing a below .500 team on the road:
We have to win it. They’re a division leader. We know that we’re going to get everything that they have. We’re going to do everything we can to give it our best shot.
Re: A lot of talking heads saying that you can score a lot of points against a defense that’s not very good and what have you seen on film:
I disagree with the talking heads because they’re a good defense. They’re playing at home in that Georgia Dome where it’s loud and they’re on turf. It’s a big, tough task for our offense.
What are some of the challenges that Atlanta’s defense poses?
I think that they get after the quarterback. They have a good pass rush. I also think their secondary, they have some young players back there that are making plays, ballhawks that are very opportunistic. When the ball is in the air and they find a way to come down with it.
When the defense is getting hit with big plays do you feel that the offense has to respond with big plays and scores?
We always want to respond regardless. We always talk about answering a score with a score. So regardless of if or how the other team does it, we feel we want to do that anyway.
How important is that and who does it benefit more mentally?
I think any time the other team scores, if you go score (or) answer the score with a score, it really kind of picks you back up because the momentum is starting to change and shift. Whether it’s with the crowd or with the team, if you can answer […]