“The greatest compliment I can give a quarterback is I’ll turn the television on when I know you’re playing. That’s Ben Roethlisberger.” — Terry Bradshaw, after the game.



Ben’s post-game interview – and yes, I know that’s not Ben in the image shown, but trust me on this…




The positives from this game, from Bob Labriola’s “What went right, wrong at Vikings” recap:


10:43 p.m. – What Went Right: The Steelers got on the scoreboard when a 3-yard pass from Ben Roethlisberger to Najee Harris capped a 10-play, 75 yard drive. Harris rushed for 19 yards on three carries in addition to the touchdown catch, and James Washington made a combat catch for 29 yards over Kris Boyd, who later drew a taunting penalty that gifted the Steelers another 15 yards.


10:55 p.m. – What Went Right: The Steelers scored a second touchdown on a seven-play, 42-yard drive capped by another Najee Harris touchdown, this one a 1-yard run that made it 29-14 with 14:49 remaining in the fourth quarter. The Steelers got the ball back quickly after their first touchdown when Ahkello Witherspoon intercepted a Kirk Cousins pass on the first play after the Vikings received the kickoff following Harris’ first touchdown. Chase Claypool make an important combat catch for 11 yards to convert a third-and-4, and the Steelers also were helped by a pass interference penalty on Cameron Dantzler that put the ball at the 1-yard line.


11:06 p.m. – What Went Right: The Steelers scored a third touchdown in a five-minute span on a 30-yard pass from Ben Roethlisberger to James Washington with 12:11 left in the fourth quarter that made it 29-20 following a failed 2-point conversion attempt. The defense set things up with a three-and-out sealed when Minkah Fitzpatrick broke up a third-down pass for Justin Jefferson. The third touchdown capped a three-play, 69-yard drive, with the big play being a 37-yard hookup with Diontae Johnson.


11:24 p.m. – What Went Right: Ahkello Witherspoon’s second interception of the game and his 41-yard return gave the Steelers the ball at the Vikings 21-yard line. After a 6-yard completion to Ray-Ray McCloud, Ben Roethlisberger found Pat Freiermuth for the touchdown. Then a 2-point conversion pass to Diontae Johnson brought the Steelers to 36-28 with 4:14 left in the fourth quarter.


And then…


11:44 p.m. – What Went Wrong: So close. So very close. Ben Roethlisberger moved the Steelers from their own 4-yard line to a first down at the Vikings 12-yard line with three seconds left. One last chance to make one play to have a chance to tie the game and get it into overtime after being down, 29-0. Roethlisberger stood in the pocket and delivered a near-perfect pass to Pat Freiermuth, who had the ball in his hands in the end zone only to have it knocked out when he got sandwiched by the Minnesota safeties.



You can read all of his recap here.



A big compliment from a former AFC-North adversary:




Ben completed 28 of 40 passes for 308 yards, 3 touchdowns and 1 interception. His QB rating was 107.1.