From Bob Labriola, Steelers Digest/Steelers.com:

Missing the playoffs is not an acceptable outcome for the Steelers, but that doesn’t mean 2013 was a waste.
It still stings, and it’s right that it does. Not making the playoffs represents failure on a lot of levels to the Pittsburgh Steelers, and in the end they just didn’t have enough.

But if their season was unfulfilled, it doesn’t deserve to be seen as worthless. The following are nine reasons to be looking forward to the Steelers’ prospects for 2014:

BEN ROETHLISBERGER’S PLAY –

A good bit of any of the successes enjoyed by the offense are directly related to the play of the quarterback, and Ben Roethlisberger had a great year. His final statistics are somewhat skewed by his participation in the 0-4 disaster, and besides, with this team at this time Roethlisberger’s contributions cannot be measured by numbers alone.

There is a difference between playing quarterback, and being the quarterback. In fact, among the definitions of the word ‘quarterback’ provided by Merriam-Webster are: “one who directs and leads,” when used as a noun; and “to lead or organize (something) by making important decisions,” when used as a verb. Roethlisberger did those things for a team in need of them, and he also threw for 16 touchdowns and five interceptions over the second half of the season.



You can read the eight other reasons here!

From Ron Musselman, Beaver County Times/Times Online:

Ben Roethlisberger turns 32 in March, but he’s not slowing down. If anything, the Steelers’ two-time Super Bowl-winning quarterback is getting better with age.

“Looking back on it, even though we didn’t make the playoffs, Ben really had a good season,” tight end Heath Miller said.

How good?

“We’re talking an MVP-type of season,” said wide receiver Derek Moye.

Of course, Roethlisberger didn’t win team MVP honors, which instead went to record-setting receiver Antonio Brown.

Roethlisberger took every snap and started all 16 games for just the second time in his 10-year career. His 28 touchdown passes were the second-most in franchise history to his 32 in 2007 and his 4,261 passing yards were second to his 4,328 in 2009. His completions (375) and pass attempts (584) were the most in franchise history for a season.

Roethlisberger, who vehemently denied an NFL Network report in early November that he would request a trade, completed 102 of 163 passes for 1,221 yards and 10 touchdowns operating out of the no-huddle offense. He also called the plays from that formation.

“It wasn’t just me,” Roethlisberger said. “A lot of guys contributed to our success in the second half.”

Roethlisberger not only put up good numbers, he became the unquestioned leader of the offense.

“He did a great job of it this year … and not only in terms of his input, but his leadership,” coach Mike Tomlin said.

Moye noticed a big change in Roethlisberger’s leadership skills.

“In the little time I was here last year, he wasn’t a real vocal guy,” Moye said. “But when we were going through some tough times at the beginning of this season, he kind of stepped up and kept us all together.

“All through the stretch where we were playing pretty well, he kind of was the glue that helped everybody stick together.”


You can read more from Mr. Musselman’s column here.

The Regios De Acero Steelers Fan Club traveled by bus from Mexico to Pittsburgh to see their beloved Steelers LIVE!

Regular readers are familiar with this hardy crew of Steelers fans who wear their love for their favorite team (and their favorite player) on their backs as part of their everyday attire!

Sure, they watch their Steelers at home in Mexico, and they’ve traveled to Kansas, Arizona, and to Dallas for Super Bowl XLV in an ice storm to see them play (they didn’t have tickets, but they did tailgate and watch the game on TV), but their dream was to see a game in the home of the Steelers!

They finally made their own dream come true on December 15th!


From Roger Saucedo on their unforgettable trip:

The trip to Pittsburgh started on Thursday, December 12th at 7:00 am. A group of around 25 Steelers fans leave Monterrey to Pittsburgh. We pass the border by McAllen,Texas. The plan was go non-stop to Pittsburgh, just stop to buy food and gas for the bus.



We finally arrived in Pittsburgh on Friday, December 13th by 11:00pm which means we completed the trip from Monterrey to the Steel City in around 40 hours. Obviously all were tired but happy because we will be at the game at Heinz Field…and we arrived while it was snowing!

On Saturday, we visited the city. We took a lot of pictures and later had lunch at Jerome Bettis’ Grille 36… later we visited downtown Pittsburgh and walked to Market Square. From there we made our way to Station Square and took pictures from Duquesne funicular observation deck.



Sunday! Everyone was so excited! We went downtown bright and early to buy some Steelers clothes including jerseys, and from there back to our hotel. At 5:00pm we headed to Heinz Field. When we were on our way, one of Regios de Acero leaders, Jesús Vera, told us that our friend Fernando Von Rossum, who works for Fox Sports (“pasión acerera”), had sent tickets for us to access the field before the game started!! That was our Christmas gift! It was a big surprise, but Fernando know that our club is one of the best […]

…and sometimes it can get kind of messy!

Did I get it all in my mouth?

Well, most of it! But the bigger question is…are there any Christmas cookies left?

From Alan Robinson, at the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review:

The offseason officially arrived only hours before, yet Ben Roethlisberger already was eager to talk about the 2014 season with offensive coordinator Todd Haley.

The topic: the no-huddle offense.

The idea: to begin next season with the no-huddle as the Steelers’ base offense.

“We got to the point (of the season) where it was like, ‘OK, this is where we’re at our best,’ ” Roethlisberger said.

Looking at the numbers, he’s right.

The Steelers began using the no-huddle far more frequently beginning with the Bills’ game Nov. 10, which coincidentally began the second half of the season.

The idea was to take elite pass rusher Mario Williams out of the game, and it worked; he didn’t have a sack or even get close to Roethlisberger.

It probably worked even better than Roethlisberger, Haley and quarterbacks coach Randy Fichtner figured it would.

“We’ve been tweaking things, changing things, adding things and taking things out,” Roethlisberger said. “I think it’s come a long way. I think it’s evolved for the better.”

Those 223 points were sixth in the NFL.

Roethlisberger didn’t throw for as many yards in the second half (1,872) as he did in the first (2,145), but that’s a byproduct of having the lead more often and not needing to throw as much, plus an upgraded running game.

The biggest statistical turnaround: Roethlisberger was sacked only 11 times after the no-huddle became the offense of choice, compared to a whopping 32 times in the first half. He also threw only five interceptions in the second half of the season, compared to nine in Games 1-8.

“(The) production has gone up, and I think that the mistakes have really come down,” said Roethlisberger, who calls the plays in the no-huddle. “I think the guys really enjoy (running the no-huddle). I’m sure if you ask the receivers, they like it. Le’Veon (Bell) likes it, mixing in the run and the pass so it’s not so pass-heavy.”

You can read more from Mr. Robinson’s column here.

If you watched the Rose Bowl Parade on this New Year’s Day, you may have caught one special float passing along the parade route!

Los Angeles television station KTLA – Channel 5 captured this great image of the K9s4Cops float as it made it made it’s way down the main street:

@KTLA 5 News
Real police dogs accompany the #RoseParade float representing the charity K9s4Cops.org

K9s4Cops, founded in 2010, is a non-profit organization whose mission is to ensure that every law enforcement officer who is in need of a K9 has one at their side and ready for action….much like the goal of The Ben Roethlisberger Foundation!

In fact, K9s4Cops is no stranger to Ben’s foundation. They were instrumental in helping the Houston Police Department put together a grant in the summer of 2011.

When the agency was awarded a grant during that NFL season, k9s4Cops tweeted a “Thank You” to Ben, telling their followers that “our next crime fighting K9 ‘Big Ben’ will proudly wear the #7 on his collar!!”.

K9s4Cops has also given Ben’s website some great portrait-style and action photos to use when posting foundation grant news!

Congratulations to K9s4Cops for having the best looking float at the parade!


You can read more about their organization here.

You can read more about Ben’s foundation here.