Recap from Teresa Varley, Steelers.com:

“Ben Roethlisberger understands the balance between excitement and business as usual.”

Ben Roethlisberger is no stranger to playing football this time of year, preparing for his 18th postseason game when the Steelers take on the Miami Dolphins in an AFC Wild Card game on Sunday at Heinz Field.

If there is one thing Roethlisberger has learned over the years, it’s how to approach the game. Yes, there will be a little more excitement, the blood will be pumping a little harder and the heart rate will pick up a bit.

At the same time, though, the key is tempering the enthusiasm and going into the game with the same approach you do each and every week.

“If you are not excited to be in the playoffs, something is wrong with you,” said Roethlisberger. “You still have to take the same approach. Today is Wednesday, let’s go about our business. I think just the attention to detail has to be a little more intense.

“You have to go about your business as usual, but you have to understand there is a sense of urgency, attention to detail, mistakes are magnified this week. It’s a little of both.

“You are excited, you do have jitters. There are only so many teams playing. A lot of teams have already gone home. I have been doing this for a while. Just keep eye on the younger guys and make sure they don’t get too excited.”

A player who doesn’t have Roethlisberger’s wealth of postseason experience is Le’Veon Bell, who was injured for the team’s last two playoff runs.

“I think he will be excited, I think that is good,” said Roethlisberger. “Any time you get the chance to play in your first playoff game, you should be excited.”

It’s been a while since the Steelers’ have had a full complement of players going into a postseason game, with Bell, Antonio Brown and DeAngelo Williams among those that missed time last year. Roethlisberger likes the fact that the health of the team isn’t an issue.

“This game is about when you can get hot, when you can play your best football,” said Roethlisberger. “It’s important to play your best football late in the season when it matters the most. Staying healthy is […]

From Ben’s radio show this morning on 93.7 The Fan:

After getting a week off to rest up for the playoffs, Ben Roethlisberger talked about how both he and the rest of the team are getting healthy as they prepare for their first round playoff matchup with the Miami Dolphins.

“I do know what it feels like to not have everybody healthy and it feels great to have everybody healthy, as healthy as you can be going into the postseason,” Ben said. “I feel super healthy…just because we’re healthy doesn’t guarantee anything.”

Health and experience are two of the biggest assets you can have going into the playoffs. After talking about how he’s healthy, Ben talked about the experience he has and how that helps.

“I think it helps, I wouldn’t say it’s going to guarantee a victory or anything like that…We’re lucky in the sense too that we’ve got a lot of guys, offensively and defensively, that have played in postseason games,” he said.

One key player who is lacking in playoff experience also happens to be the team’s MVP this year, Le’Veon Bell. Ben shed light on how the star running back has to be feeling at this point.

“I’m sure he’s going to be amped up and ready to go, which is good for us,” he said.

As he watches tape and prepares for this week, Ben was asked about controversial Dolphins defensive lineman Ndamukong Suh, who is known for his dirty play and if Ben is always aware of what he’s doing.

“In terms of the extra stuff, we don’t worry about that. We’re just going to go out and play the football game. You can’t get caught up in it, because if you get caught up in it, you do what the Bengals do and you lose the game,” Ben said.

Ben looked back at that last matchup against the Dolphins when they traveled down to Miami and lost 30-15 in what was considered a major upset at the time.

“Just trying to look at tendencies, look at plays that I missed, plays we didn’t make, how can we all be better,” Ben said.


Shhhhhhhhhh!!!!

Things wrapped up on “The #1 Cochran Ben Roethlisberger Show” this week with Ben joking about a special request he […]

Regular followers of Ben’s site will remember Zach – he is always out there helping Ben at his ProCamps kids football camp every summer.

“We enjoy coming every year and Zach loves interacting with the kiddos. You all are amazing for giving him so many blessed memories!” — Kelly Mezger, Zach’s mother.

Unfortunately, Zach became ill yesterday with a fever & infection and was admitted to the hospital, and is still there receiving treatment.

Sending prayers to Zachery Mezger…get well quickly, buddy! We’re thinking about you!! — Ben.

If you have a Twitter account, give him a personal shout-out at @coachzman . You can befriend him on Facebook here!


Also…

Hooray for Lila Chapman! She is home from the hospital after a stay over the Christmas holiday!



Lila is Steelers Strong, so we’re not surprised!! But we sure are glad she’s out of the hospital and was able to enjoy Christmas the way it was meant to be enjoyed – at home with family!

Recap from Teresa Varley, Steelers.com:

Coach Mike Tomlin said during his weekly news conference that he would like to give some of his starters a rest this week against the Browns to make sure they go into the postseason healthy.

Among those on the short list is quarterback Ben Roethlisberger.

“It’s about getting older,” said Roethlisberger. “This time of year everybody’s a little banged up and hurting and things. If coach says take the day off, I am not going to argue.”

The last few years the Steelers have missed some of their biggest weapons on offense in the postseason because of injuries, including Le’Veon Bell and Antonio Brown. So while resting those guys might worry some about them getting out of rhythm, Roethlisberger thinks it’s the right move.

“Staying mentally strong is huge this time of year,” said Roethlisberger. “Being mentally ready to go. It’s been a long season. Physically it can be better if you get healthy and rested up. We will still take our time and get stuff ready to go. We will have all next week to get ready for whoever we are playing.

“We hope we can get everybody out of this last game, especially the guys up front. That is most important. If they are healthy and playing their best football, which I think they are doing, that makes everybody’s job easier and all of us play better.”

If Roethlisberger doesn’t play, the offense will likely be in the hands of Landry Jones. Roethlisberger said he will help Jones prepare all week and likes the growth he has seen in him.

“Just his understanding of the offense, growth, play calling,” said Roethlisberger. “We can do no-huddle with him. Him being around here you see a lot of understanding of football, our offense, defense, and things like that.”


More from Ben –

On Jesse James:

“He has continued to grow. Just little steps along the way. Not making the mistakes. Understanding when he is hot, understanding how to run routes. Blocking. I think he has done a great job in the blocking game as well. The little things have added up to his growth and I think from where he was from the beginning of the year to now, is a huge asset to us. It might not show in the stats […]

From Ben’s radio show this morning on 93.7 The Fan:

Quarterback Ben Roethlisberger joined “The Cook and Poni Show” on Sportsradio 93.7 The Fan for the “#1 Cochran Ben Roethlisberger Show,” which airs every Tuesday morning at 11 a.m. during the Steelers’ season.

The Steelers are coming off a 31-27 victory of the rival Baltimore Ravens that clinched the AFC North division on Christmas Day.

Roethlisberger led the team down the field on the final drive to win, while overcoming his mistakes from earlier in the game. He used some interesting motivation to go win the game.

Roethlisberger led the team down the field on the final drive to win, while overcoming his mistakes from earlier in the game. He used some interesting motivation to go win the game.

“I heard a handful of kids behind me just kind of saying, ‘Let’s go Ben, you can do it, we believe in you, you’re our favorite.’ Something like that, you know and you hear a lot of the negative, that just kind of washed all the negative away,” said Roethlisberger. “As I was standing on the sideline, I remember as I was standing there praying and doing some thinking on the sideline, I remember thinking to myself and praying, ‘I want to go do it for those kids.’”

Roethlisberger has not heard if he will play Sunday against the Browns or not. He did not say he didn’t want to play Sunday, but says he will appreciate the rest if he gets it.

“You know, as we all are this time of year, even though the line has played great and they’ve really kept me upright, if you can get a little bit of rest to head into a playoff time I would use the rest. If coach [head coach Mike Tomlin] wanted me to play I would play, too, but if I could rest my old bones, the knees and the shoulders and stuff I would take that rest as well,” he said.

When asked if the Steelers would have been able to get another play off before time expired on the game clock had Brown not made it into the end zone he simply said:

“Does it matter?”

“You can ‘what if?’ every single play of a football game can’t ya? I mean, what if he would have […]