“Another banner day for Big Ben!” — CBS NFL game announcer Dan Dierdorf during final minutes of 4th quarter.

“It’s just fun to get everyone involved. I still don’t think we are there. I think we are getting closer. There are still some things we can do to get better but that is good. It is early in the year still and we need to make those improvements. We don’t want to be just clicking at 100 percent now. We want to be winning games and moving forward.” — Ben, post-game.

Big Ben throws longest pass in Steelers history in win

From CBS Sports post-game:

In the long history of the Pittsburgh Steelers, there has never been a pass like it, and the play set the tone for a big day.

Roethlisberger, 26 of 39 for 361 yards, also had TD passes of 12 yards to Heath Miller and 4 yards to Emmanuel Sanders in the first game between the teams since Pittsburgh’s 27-23 thriller over the Cardinals in the 2009 Super Bowl.

Shaun Suisham kicked field goals of 41, 42 and 39 yards for the Steelers.

The big play from Roethlisberger to Wallace, cheered on by a crowd that included a generous and boisterous bunch of Steelers fans, came in the second quarter after an Arizona drive stalled at the Steelers 39 and Dave Zastudil’s 30-yard punt pinned Pittsburgh on its 9-yard line. A false start pushed it back to the Steelers 5.

On the next play, Roethlisberger dropped back into the Pittsburgh end zone and lofted a pass down the sideline toward Wallace, who had beaten cornerback Richard Marshall.

Wallace caught the ball in stride, breaking free of a pair of would-be tacklers along the way, and raced to the end zone for the score that made it 14-0 with 8:09 left in the half.

“You put it out there for a guy like that and you start smiling. because you know he is not going to get caught.” — Ben, talking about Mike Wallace.

The previous longest pass play was 90 yards, first set by Terry Bradshaw against Seattle in 1981, then matched by Bubby Brister to Dwight Stone against Denver […]

From Steelers.com today:

Ben….

– Will look to set a new career-long with seventh consecutive game of at least 200 yards passing.

– With a win will improve to 21-7 as a starting quarterback in the month of October.

– Is five pass attempts shy of 3,000 for his career, making him the second quarterback in franchise history to reach the mark (Bradshaw, 3,901).


You can read more from their Steelers vs Cardinals review here.

Ben announced the fourth grant of the 2011 season from The Ben Roethlisberger Foundation at The Giving Back Fund today.

The foundation will be distributing a grant to the Avondale Police Department, in Avondale, AZ, just outside of Phoenix where the Steelers will play the Cardinals on Sunday, October 23rd.

“The Avondale Police Department is proud to receive the Ben Roethlisberger Foundation Grant”, said Avondale Police Chief Kevin Kotsur. “It was not without our partnership with the Boys and Girls club of Metropolitan Phoenix and the Tri-City West/Thornwood Branch whose sponsorship made this grant possible.

“The grant was made specifically to the Avondale Police Department’s K-9 unit who will be using the monies granted for much needed equipment, ballistic vest made for K-9’s and in service training for the handlers and service dogs as well,” the Chief continued. “We can’t thank the Ben Roethlisberger Foundation enough for their consideration of our team.”

The Ben Roethlisberger Foundation is distributing grants to police and fire departments in Pittsburgh and in the cities and surrounding communities of each regular season away game for the Steelers in the 2011 season. Last summer, Ben invited police and fire departments in the local areas of those nine cities to submit proposals detailing their needs.


For more information:

Check out Ben’s Foundation page here and the Giving Back Fund’s website here.



NFL Stat of the Day:

“Ben Roethlisberger (61.1 percent), Donovan McNabb (54.3), Jay Cutler (50.9) and Cam Newton (50.0) are the only players completing at least half their passes under duress.” — Mike Sando, NFL Nation blog at ESPN.com.

From WTAP-Channel 5 reporter Rich Donnelly today:

Trenton Lockhart is a 15-year-old who loves football, his family and the Pittsburgh Steelers. But unlike many other teenagers, Trenton has a form of autism that prevents him from grabbing and throwing objects like a football.

The Make-a-Wish Foundation helped Trenton enjoy the sport he loves and meet his favorite player, Ben Roethlisberger.


You can watch video of Mr. Donnelly’s report here.



Also Today:

From Ben’s Wednesday meeting with the media –

Ben Roethlisberger has been doing some serious campaigning these days, getting in the ear of offensive coordinator Bruce Arians with his plea to run the no-huddle offense.

“I feel we can change it up,” said Roethlisberger. “It’s a weapon for us. We just haven’t had a chance to get into it yet. I wanted to get into it last week. I love doing it. We have so many weapons we need to utilize it.”

Roethlisberger doesn’t think using it on the road is a problem and would welcome it this week against the Arizona Cardinals or at any week for that matter.

“I would like to do it every game regardless of how we are doing,” said Roethlisberger. “Traditionally we have gotten into it when we have struggled on offense. I went to (Arians) the last game at the eight minute mark after we went a couple of three and outs to try to change up the tempo and the pace. We usually go to it when things aren’t clicking on offense.”


You can read at Steelers.com!



And:

Ben was a guest on Jim Rome is Burning on ESPN2 at 4:30 this afternoon. Some of the highlights of his interview:

Jim Rome: Who and what are the Pittsburgh Steelers?

Ben: “We’re starting to get an identity. I guess on offense if we’re going to have some good quarters, some bad quarters, I guess it’s good that we’re 4-2 because hopefully when we do find out who we are as a team we can play a little better.”


Jim Rome: Why do you think the offense has been so up and down?

Ben: “Well, I think we’ve dealt with our share of injuries early on, we’ve rotated and plugged guys in and out, we’ve got some young guys still…we’re still just trying to get to know each other […]

Cardinals’ pass rush practicing hard to target Big Ben this weekend


From the Arizona Republic News:

How do you tackle a tree?

That’s what the Cardinals have to figure out on Sunday when they return after a week off and have to face Ben Roethlisberger and the Pittsburgh Steelers.

As difficult as it can be to bring down the 6-foot-5, 241-pound quarterback, it’s not impossible.

“He’s tough to tackle, probably one of the toughest in the game,” Cardinals defensive end Calais Campbell said. “He’s an athlete. He’s like a defensive end playing quarterback. We’ve got to put our bodies on him and hopefully, group-tackle him.”

But Roethlisberger can escape from sacks better than most.

Before the official start of practice each day this week, the Cardinals’ defensive line will practice wrapping up and simulate sacking Roethlisberger by using one of their own as a live practice dummy.

“But you really can’t simulate a guy like Big Ben,” nose tackle Dan Williams said. “He’s such a big, athletic quarterback and the way he can move and make plays is crazy.

“You watch him on film and you see guys hanging on his leg or holding on to his arm and he’s still throwing the ball.”

Yeah, it’s like trying to tackle a tree.


You can read more here.



Also Today:

Just for fun….

Check out the new commercial for Head & Shoulders with Troy, Brett Keisel and Hines Ward.

Check out the even funnier “between takes” moments when Hines teaches his teammates some dance moves.


*Thank you to Trish at BrettKeisel.com and Head & Shoulders for Men!



Quote of the Day:

“Bradford’s tough. He’ll be able to rough it out. Ben Roethlisberger goes out there and plays with a broken ankle, broken ribs, broken neck…” — Rams wide receiver Mark Clayton comparing his injured quarterback, Sam Bradford, to another tough quarterback.

“We had other guys open. I just have to drive the ball. I have to make the necessary adjustments when the wind picks up, stop floating it and try to drive it through the wind. I never make excuses. When it’s blowing, you have to put a lot of spin on the ball. I just wasn’t doing that. It’s something I can easily change.” — Ben, post-game.

From Ray Fittipaldo, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette this morning:

Ben Roethlisberger threw for 181 yards and completed a 28-yard touchdown pass to Mike Wallace in the first half of Sunday’s game against Jacksonville. His quarterback rating was 113.4 after the second quarter and he appeared to be well on his way to another sterling performance, one week after tossing five touchdown passes in a victory against the Titans.

In the third and fourth quarters, the Jaguars — and the wind — finally disrupted the Steelers’ passing game. Roethlisberger completed just 1 of 5 passes in the third and fourth quarters, and the Steelers had to hold on for a 17-13 victory after being held off the scoreboard in the second half.

“It was gusting pretty good,” Roethlisberger said of the wind. “Dan [Sepulveda] said on the last punt he wanted to take off and run. He didn’t even want to punt it. It was what it was. It was kind of Heinz Field. One series it blows one way, then it swirls on you. Like I said, no excuses. You have to drive the ball through the wind.”


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