“You have to be ready when your number’s called.” — Ben
“All he needed was the phone booth and a cape.”— Ramon Foster on Ben’s performance.
“I drink a lot of milk!” — Ben, on his quick recovery.
From Bob Labriola, Steelers.com:
He wasn’t supposed to play, but Ben Roethlisberger saved the day for the Steelers.
For Clark Kent, it was the telephone booth, and when he emerged from it after changing clothes, he became Superman and was ready to save the day. For Ben Roethlisberger, it was nothing quite so dramatic, and there was no change of clothes required. The process simply involved exchanging a baseball cap for his helmet, and then the short trip from the sideline to the huddle was all that was required to go about the business of saving the day for the Steelers.
Just one week after spraining his foot in a victory over Oakland, Roethlisberger had healed sufficiently to participate in enough practice sessions during the week to earn the status as the backup quarterback to the game’s starter, Landry Jones, with Mike Vick being inactive. Roethlisberger as the backup didn’t last very long, because eight offensive snaps into the game, Jones sprained an ankle and turned things over to Superm … er, Roethlisberger.
From there it was pretty smooth sailing to a 30-9 victory over the Browns that raised the Steelers’ record to 6-4, with Roethlisberger completing 22-of-33 for 379 yards, with three touchdowns, one interception, and a passer rating of 123.2. There also were four pass interference penalties called on the Browns that gained another 141 yards, and so Roethlisberger’s impact on the Steelers passing attack was in the neighborhood of 520 yards.
Roethlisberger is the Steelers Digest Player of the Week.
You can read more here.
And from Jeremy Fowler at ESPN.com:
Ben Roethlisberger notched a career milestone that even the ambitious quarterback couldn’t have expected.
After passing for 379 yards in the Steelers’ 30-9 victory Sunday over the Browns, Roethlisberger now owns the NFL’s best regular-season quarterback relief performance, eclipsing Wade Wilson’s 374 yards from 1990.
“I kinda surprised myself,” said Roethlisberger, who entered the game on the third series after starter Landry Jones limped off the field with a left ankle injury. “My foot was basically black and blue [early in the week].”
Roethlisberger, the team’s regular starter, was not expected to play because of a midfoot sprain suffered last week. But as soon as Jones went down after a third-down pass in the red zone, Roethlisberger jogged to the sideline, grabbed a football and started warming up. He put on his helmet shortly after that and took the field with 8:06 left in the first quarter, which prompted a roar from the Heinz Field crowd.
Roethlisberger had 286 passing yards in the first half against the Browns, the second-most in any first half in his career.
After the game, Steelers coach Mike Tomlin praised Roethlisberger’s effort “on little to no reps of preparation” in practices. Jones performed most of the quarterback duties at Friday’s practice.
After the game, Steelers defensive end Cameron Heyward called Roethlisberger a “heckuva guy.”
“When we needed him, he stepped up,” Heyward said. “I wouldn’t have had any other quarterback out there.”
You can read more here.
You can watch the video of Ben’s post-game press conference here.
You can see more photos here.
Steeler Nation, these two members need cheers (and your prayers) too:
Kathy Rivera, from Corona, CA rests in a hospital bed during a long struggle with cancer. She is a fighter though, and is always faithful to her favorite team and her quarterback, both are as tough as nails!
Lil’ fan Colt Wieland was born two months premature, and as he gets stronger, he is already cheering for his Steelers and Big Ben!
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