Reminder:

The Steelers will welcome the Cleveland Browns to Heinz Field on Thursday, December 8th.

The game starts at 8:20 PM.

Pre-game coverage starts at 6:00 PM on NFLN and will include a sit-down interview with Ben conducted by Michael Irvin.

Don’t miss it!!



Quote of the Day:

“He is so big, not bigger than the defensive linemen, but he’s certainly bigger than most quarterbacks we’ve seen. He’s thick and very athletic. He’s got great balance. He’s just hard to get down and he’s got an uncanny knack of holding onto the ball somehow even when you get him from the blind side occasionally.” — Cleveland Browns defensive coordinator Dick Jauron on the difficulty of game-planning for Ben.

“It would be nice to peak somewhere in like early February.” — Ben, as tweeted by Scott Brown, Pittsburgh Tribune-Review.

From the blog of Mike Bires, The Beaver County Times:

Roethlisberger owns 39 franchise passing records and shares five others. His latest milestone came Sunday when he surpassed Terry Bradshaw for most career completions (2,206).

But that wasn’t the only record Roethlisberger set Sunday. He now holds the dubious record as the Steelers quarterback who’s been sacked most often (308). He surpassed Bradshaw when he was sacked twice by the Bengals. This season, Roethlisberger has been sacked 34 times.

He shares the NFL lead in that category with San Francisco’s Alex Smith. But obviously, Smith and Roethlisberger have fared well despite all the sacks. They rank seventh and eighth, respectively, in the NFL with 94.9 and 93.6 passer ratings. And the 49ers (10-2) have already won the NFC West while the Steelers (9-3) are tied for the best record in the AFC.


You can read more here.



What does Ben have to say about the sack record?

From his Q&A with the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review‘s “The Steel Mill” blog:

“I plan for it. At the beginning of the year I put a big number up that I’m trying to get. That speaks to not worrying about it. I don’t go into a game saying ‘OK, I’m going to try not to get sacked this game.’ I go in and play the game the way I know how to play it. I know the line takes a lot of heat for those things but you’d probably cut those sacks in half if wasn’t for the style of game that I play. I think they’re overworrying about it, the media and the fans and people talking about them doing a poor job. I think they’re over it now. My thumb (injury) wasn’t on a sack. The big injuries just seem to happen on regular plays. I don’t think I take too many big shots.”


You can read the rest of his Q&A here.



And:

Ben happy with improvement in the red zone

From the Erie-Times News‘ John Dudley:

“Noooobody does it better than Big Ben…this guy is incredible!” — Mike Ditka, ESPN’s Sunday NFL Countdown.

From Ed Bouchette, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette:

For the second time in three games, the Steelers blew a hole through the playoff hopes of the Cincinnati Bengals, routing them 35-7 today at Heinz Field.

The victory raised the Steelers’ record to 9-3, tied for best in the AFC, Cincinnati, fighting for a wildcard playoff berth, slipped to 7-5.

The Steelers made quick work of this one in the second quarter when they scored 21 points to take a 28-7 halftime lead.

Cincinnati’s only touchdown came in the second quarter, trailing 21-0, when A.J. Green caught an 11-yard pass from rookie Andy Dalton.

Bengals coach Marvin Lewis pulled Dalton from the game in the second quarter. Mike Tomlin took Roethlisberger out with 10:14 to go with Charlie Batch mopping up.


You can read more here.

“It’s obviously an awesome honor. Anytime you break a guy like that’s record, it’s a great thing.” — Ben, on surpassing HOF quarterback Terry Bradshaw’s record for pass completions.

From the AP:

Pittsburgh Steelers quarterback Ben Roethlisberger has now completed more passes than any player in team history.

Roethlisberger hit tight end David Johnson for a 9-yard gain early in the fourth quarter on Sunday against Cincinnati, giving him 2,026 completions to pass Hall of Famer Terry Bradshaw’s record.

Roethlisberger finished 15 of 23 for 176 yards and two touchdowns before giving way to Charlie Batch in the fourth quarter with the Steelers holding a sizable lead. He already holds nearly 40 team records and is second in attempts, career passing yards and career passing touchdowns, trailing Bradshaw in each category.


You can read more here.

“Ben would be a great quarterback in any era.” — Former NFL quarterback and CBS game announcer Phil Simms, during the 4th Quarter.

From Jon Saraceno, USA Today:

Just in time for the holidays, and the playoff stretch run, the Pittsburgh Steelers gift-wrapped their most complete victory of the season Sunday with a performance that left their two-time championship-winning quarterback wondering if this might be the start of something super.

Pittsburgh (9-3) has won seven of its last eight games and is tied for the division lead with the Baltimore Ravens, […]

Injury Update –

From Gerry Dulac, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette:

One day after he aggravated his fractured right thumb taking a snap in practice, QB Ben Roethlisberger participated in a full practice and pronounced his thumb “good enough.”

Like Woodley, he is listed as probable on the official injury report, but will play against the Bengals.



You can read more from Mr. Dulac at the PG+ site!

You can also follow Mr. Dulac on Twitter.



Heath Miller sat down with Westwood One‘s Scott Graham for a one-on-one interview today –

From the interview:

“I’m not sure what you would label us, I know that Ben is, he is the best player on our offense so certainly we would put the ball in his hands more often than not. It’s a good thing for our team and I think that’s kind of been maybe the biggest difference over the last few years.

“And there’s been games where he’s put us on his back and executed the game plan and has gotten wins for us, and he will continue to do that in the future.” — On whether the offensive personality of the Steelers has changed.


You can listen to the full interview here.


*Thank you to Trish from Heath-Miller.com!



Brett Keisel’s Cystic Fibrosis 65 Roses Sports Auction –

From Teresa Varley, at the Steelers Official Site:

Earlier this week Brett Keisel was named the Steelers 2011 Walter Payton Man of the Year.

On Thursday night he proved why he is the recipient of the honor as he served as the honorary chairman for the Cystic Fibrosis 65 Roses Sports Auction, one of the many things he does in the community.

Keisel was joined at the event by many of his Steelers teammates, including James Farrior, Corbin Bryant, Casey Hampton, Cameron Heyward, Ziggy Hood, Heath Miller, and Ben Roethlisberger, signing autographs for the guests.


You can read more about the event from Ms. Varley here.



Bengals Head Coach Marvin Lewis talks Big Ben –

From Dan Hanzus, NFL.com tonight:

Most everyone agrees the 2011 MVP race narrows down to Aaron Rodgers and — […]

How about your center? Your safety? Your wide receivers? Your running backs? Your linebackers? Your defensive ends….

Pro Bowl voting doesn’t end until Monday, Dec. 19 at the conclusion of Monday Night Football (Pittsburgh Steelers at San Francisco 49ers, 8:30 p.m.)  so get your votes in and make them count!!

Being selected as a starter in the Pro Bowl is a huge honor for players! Let’s show our team how much we support their selection – vote early, vote often! Make Hawaii Black & Gold! And if they end up making Indianapolis Black & Gold instead, at least they’ll have earned the right to be called “Pro Bowlers” at the same time!!!

The annual contest of the AFC and NFC’s best will take place Sunday, Jan. 29, 2012 at Aloha Stadium in Hawaii.

Steelers on the ballot from the offense include Ben, Rashard Mendenhall, Mike Wallace, Antonio Brown, Hines Ward, David Johnson, Heath Miller, Marcus Gilbert, Max Starks, Ramon Foster, Chris Kemoeatu, and Maurkice Pouncey.

Defensive players include Brett Keisel, Ziggy Hood, Casey Hampton, James Harrison, LaMarr Woodley, James Farrior, Lawrence Timmons, William Gay, Ike Taylor, Troy Polamalu, and Ryan Clark.

Ben has passed for 3,070 yards with 17 touchdowns and a quarterback rating of 92.2 rating so far this season! He is currently No. 2 in fan voting for AFC quarterback with 565,378 votes behind the Patriots’ Tom Brady with 873,424 votes. The Bills’ Ryan Fitzpatrick is third in AFC quarterback voting, and the Broncos’ Tim Tebow is fourth.

The Pro Bowl teams will be announced at 7 p.m. Tuesday, Dec. 27 on a special NFL Total Access 2012 Pro Bowl Selection Show on NFL Network.


You can vote for the Black & Gold as many times as you like, just click here!

You can see the results for the Top Ten getters so far at Steelers Depot.

From Joe Reedy, Cincinnati Enquirer today:

Steelers QB Ben Roethlisberger had a lot of good things to say about Andy Dalton after the game on Nov. 13. During a teleconference on Wednesday he was still very complimentary.

Said Roethlisberger of Dalton: “The things that he does that you just see or expect from rookie quarterbacks. Anticipating throws. There were a couple of throws last time we played them, and I was on the sideline and I told the story of when, but we’ve got a guy right in his face, the receiver is still running a route, he throws an out route and the guy breaks right to the ball and its perfect. Some of the things he did were really impressive. Right now I think, and I don’t know how the talk is, but he’s rookie of the year. I think he’s that good of a quarterback.”


You can read more here.