I just want to wish all of my fans and Steelers fans out there a very Merry Christmas. I hope that everyone has a blessed holiday! And I hope that Santa brings all you kids out there everything you wanted!

Thank you all for your continued support, and a special thank you and Merry Christmas to Erin for the awesome job she does on this site!

Take care everyone and have a great New Year,

Ben


You can check out a larger version of Ben’s Christmas photo here.


You can also watch and listen to Ben’s message to the troops here.

Back by popular demand…


“Steel City Dreams” – Super Bowl XLIII, by artist Fred Carrow:

Twas the night before the game, when all through the house,

Not a creature was stirring, except for his mouse.

The posters were hung, on his walls with great care,

In hopes that Big Ben, soon would be there.


The child was nestled, all snug in his bed,

As visions of touchdowns, danced in his head.

Terrible towel for his hand, bedpost for his cap,

He and his dog, settled down for their nap.


When up on his desk, arose such a clatter,

Should he awaken, the players would scatter.

From posters and photos, the players came forth,

Rehearsing the game, this team from the North.


With halftime approaching, the Cardinals were poised,

To score a touchdown, and end all this noise.

The call was to blitz, but deep in his mind,

James saw this before, and dropped in behind.


A slant to Fitzgerald, could never miscue,

Be sure to account, for this guy, ninety-two.

He slyly slipped back, and made a quick slash,

Intercepting the ball, for a one hundred yard dash.


Now Larry was game, and would never give up,

He’d run down this thief, who drank from their cup.

He could never get near, with this team that surrounds,

In order to catch him, he’d sneak out of bounds.


With a heart from the Burgh, but his apparel now red,

A pass up the middle, and the birds were ahead.

Ten peeked at the clock, its time to be great,

We’ll give it our best, and seal our own fate.


One final drive, to take back the lead,

Get Santonio the ball, and we’d surely succeed.

To the corner he ran, to the ball he did stretch,

Two toes in the zone, for the game winning catch.


He ‘woke the next morning, his visions had waned,

Twas merely a dream, yet the ticket remained?

And later that evening, his dreams they proved right,

“Seasons beatings to all and to all a good-night.”


XLIII – Pittsburgh 27, Arizona 23


Original Poem “Twas the Night Before Christmas” by Clement Clarke Moore (1822).

Parodied by Fred in 2009.


*Thank you to Fred once again! Check out his website (and a larger version of the print) here .


Merry Christmas!

“He’s a ‘Night at the Improv’ every time he comes to work. He reminds me of John Elway.” — Former NFL linebacker and current NFLN game analyst Matt Millen referring to Ben during the game.

Media Notes & Quotes….


From NBC Sports website:

Ben Roethlisberger completed 22-of-32 passes for 320 yards and one touchdown while adding a second score on the ground to lead the Steelers to a 27-3 victory over the Panthers in a dominant Week 16 performance.

Shaking off another bloody nose, Big Ben was on fire early, completing 13 of his first 15 passes for 198 yards and a score by late in the second quarter. Both players did a nice job of reading the blitz and changing to a hot route when Roethlisberger hit Mike Wallace for a 43-yard touchdown to jump out to a 10-0 lead. Even with a huge lead, play-caller Bruce Arians kept the pedal to the medal until the fourth quarter, allowing Big Ben to clear the 300-yard mark.


You can read more here.

“He’s unique. He’s incredible.” — Former NFL quarterback and current NFLN color analyst Joe Theismann, referring to Ben during the game.

From NFL Fanhouse:

Quarterback Ben Roethlisberger was shaking off tacklers all night and completing passes on the move to put the Steelers (11-4) in position for a first-round bye in the playoffs and a home postseason game.

Roethlisberger came up a little woozy after taking a hit in the second quarter. His nose, which he recently had surgically repaired after he broke it against Baltimore, was bleeding and he briefly retreated to the Steelers’ locker room.


You can read more here.

“Ben Roethlisberger, this guy’s a tough guy and he’s getting better every week.” — NFLN’s Steve Mariucci during the Post-Game Show.

From the Panthers Official website:

Steelers quarterback Ben Roethlisberger and wide receiver Mike Wallace became just the second quarterback and second receiver to post 300-yard passing and 100-yard receiving games, respectively, against the Panthers this season. Roethlisberger tallied 320 yards with one touchdown on 22-of-32 passing, while Wallace accumulated 104 yards with one touchdown on four catches. They joined quarterback Joe Flacco with 301 yards for Baltimore (11/21/10) and wide receiver Larry Fitzgerald with 125 […]

“The Pittsburgh Steelers were a good team under Bill Cowher, but they didn’t become a great one until Roethlisberger got there.”— Darin Gantt, from his commentary below.

From the Charlotte Observer‘s Darin Gantt this afternoon on the Panthers and the 2011 draft:

This is not just another Andrew Luck column. This one’s more about how Ben Roethlisberger could make Marty Hurney change his mind, perhaps one of the hardest things to do in Charlotte.

For years, the Carolina Panthers general manager was firm in the belief that quarterbacks were important, but ultimately fungible.

But you sense that Hurney’s beginning to sway, and the last two seasons are influencing him. Tonight should be the thing that pushes him over the edge.

From 1992 to 2003, the Steelers won 115 games, an average of 9.6 per year. They went to the playoffs eight times. They won no titles. They got close with defense, and running, and often despite quarterbacks Neil O’Donnell, Mike Tomczak, Kordell Stewart and Tommy Maddox.

The 2004 draft brought Roethlisberger, but the veteran coach wanted to stick with a veteran passer. It took both Maddox and Charlie Batch getting hurt to get Roethlisberger on the field, but once he got there, the Steelers took off. They won every game he started in the regular season. The next year, they won the Super Bowl. Three years later, another one.

It happened so fast, Roethlisberger didn’t have time to freak out.

“I didn’t have any time to anticipate that I was going to play that early,” Roethlisberger said. “I don’t know if that was good because I couldn’t think about it that much.”

The Panthers have to find their guy, and they might have to bend their own rules to do so.


You can read Mr. Gantt’s full commentary here.


*Thank you to Anita Doddroe for the heads-up!

Carolina Panthers @ Pittsburgh Steelers – December 23rd at 8:20 p.m. on NFL Network.


From The Sports Network this afternoon:

Pittsburgh had vaulted to the top of the AFC North pack on the strength of a four-game win streak highlighted by a hard-fought road victory over its chief competition for the division crown, the Baltimore Ravens, in early December.

Though Pittsburgh and Baltimore sport identical 10-4 marks heading into the regular season’s final two weeks, the Steelers do own a superior record in division play, meaning the Black and Gold would claim both the AFC North title and a much-desired opening-round bye in the upcoming conference playoffs if they can defeat the Panthers and follow up with a win at Cleveland in the finale.

The Pittsburgh offense benefits from its balance, blending the passing talents and field presence of quarterback Ben Roethlisberger (2600 passing yards, 14 TD, 5 INT) with the NFL’s eighth-ranked running game (122.1 ypg) to form what can be a difficult combination to defend. Add in the field-stretching skills of speedy wide receiver Mike Wallace (53 receptions, 1048 yards, 8 TD), who’s averaging nearly 20 yards per catch and burned a well-regarded New York secondary for 102 yards on seven grabs a week ago, and it’s safe to say the Panthers may not have an easy time on their hands on Thursday.


You can read the rest of their Game Preview here.



Series history –

The Steelers hold a 3-1 edge in its all-time series with Carolina, and has won each of its last three head-to-head meetings with the Panthers. Pittsburgh took a 37-3 road decision in the most recent match-up in 2006, and were 30-14 winners when the teams last met iat Heinz Field in 2002. The Panthers’ only win in the series was an 18-14 victory in 1996.



Also:

Check out this interview/article with Ben and and some of his teammates from the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette’s Ed Bochette entitled, “Roethlisberger healing in many ways”.

Quote from the article –

“Obviously, there’s been a lot of scrutiny against him this year,” Keisel said. “The best way you can counteract that is to go out and be a better man, be a better teammate, […]

You ask me about how disappointing a loss is? I think that speaks for itself, for you guys that know me. — Ben, during his post-game interview after a 22-17 loss to the Jets.

Media Notes & Quotes…


From Rotoworld:

Big Ben nearly pulled off a game-winning drive for the ages, almost going 92 yards in two minutes with no timeouts. But he came up just short as two goal-line passes were batted down to end the game. It was still an impressive showing for Roethlisberger, who actually throws better in the cold and snow.


You can read the rest here.



From the Toronto Sun:

The Jets defense bent, but didn’t break as Ben Roethlisberger led the Steelers on a drive in the final 2:08 of the game.

Roethlisberger ran 22 yards for a first down and completed passes of 29 yards to Emmanuel Sanders, 18 yards to Mike Wallace and 16 yards to Antonio Brown to take the Steelers from their own 8-yard line to the New York 10.

But his throw to tight end Matt Spaeth in the left side of the end zone with zeroes on the clock wasn’t close to being completed.


You can read the rest here.



From the Altoona Mirror:

The Steelers were once again the victim of questionable officiating. First, a bogus helmet-to-helmet roughing call on Ryan Clark set up one of the Jets touchdowns. Then, a blatant pass interference committed against Emmanuel Sanders that should have set Pittsburgh up with a 1st-and-goal from the 8 with about 0:24 left, went uncalled.


You can read the rest here.



Stat Line: Ben completed 23-of-44 passes for 264 yards with one touchdown and no interceptions.

“Well we knew we had a long way to go. I will never blame Matt. I thought he made a great effort. He played a great game today. He made a lot of big time catches and big time plays. He did a great job stepping up especially not knowing if Heath would play or not. I will take this one on me because I need to make more plays. I would never blame those guys, it is on me and I can’t let it happen and I have to […]