Talking to the media today about this Sunday’s game –


From Steelers.com:

Is there anything that you learn from watching that game (in the film room)?

Oh yeah always. That’s what we spend Monday doing is learning about it. That’s what Monday is for is doing that and then moving on. The second half of that day we spent some time up there at the quarterbacks (film room) and today is strictly Cincinnati.


How did you wrist recover?

Fine. Got the feeling back and am ready to rock and roll today.


Re: Him hitting David DeCastro’s helmet earlier in the game:

Like I said, throughout games it’s not a rarity for quarterbacks to hit hands, helmets, shoulder pads (or) whatever it was. I just know that the play to Antonio (Brown) was the play that actually did the stinging.


Did your hand swell up?

A little bit (but) nothing too crazy. Like I said, it was just loss of feeling in the two fingers and nothing that you can’t play through.


Is there anything different that Cincinnati is doing this year that you notice on film?

(They have a) really good defense. Their secondary is playing as good as any secondary in the NFL right now. (There are) a lot of veterans out there. They have two young drafted guys that don’t even get to play because their veteran guys are playing so well. (They have) a lot of different looks, double-barrel stuff (and) things that we’ve seen in the past. But we’ll always anticipate something new.


Are they still getting a lot of pressure and is that leading to some of the things that they’re doing?

Yeah a lot of pressure. A lot of double-barrel stuff, two linebackers up on the center and bringing some free safety stuff (and) some strong safety blitzes. It forces you as an offense to change protections, to move guys around and just make sure everybody is on the same page for it.


Re: He and the team always playing better with their backs against the wall as underdogs and does that pump you up more:

I think if you need something like that to pump you up knowing that you have four games left in your season and that you control destiny and it’s a division opponent something is wrong with you. I’ve been here a long time […]

If you missed his Tuesday time slot during the Cook and Poni Show, here are some excerpts from his show:


Ben on his friend Brett Keisel’ injury –

It was a tough one. I saw him on the sideline. He is one of the toughest people I know, and to see him in so much pain really broke my heart. We kind of knew – thought we knew what it was on the sideline talking to him. After the game when I got home, I gave him a call and actually went over to his house to kind off take his mind off of the inevitability of the next day, and just trying to take his mind off of being upset and disappointed. It hurts all of us, I know it hurts Steeler Nation….he just plays at such a high level. His leadership, his energy, his excitement, just everything he brought to the table for so many years here in Pittsburgh. It’s just tough for everybody.


On the loss to the Saints –

There were a lot of emotions after the game. Disappointment and disbelief in myself that I just didn’t play well and for no apparent rhyme or reason…I was disappointed that I didn’t make all the throws that I wanted to make and give our guys chances to make plays. You gotta win the home games. I mean how important that game was to us, I just felt like I let so many people down and that was probably the hardest thing after the game.

At halftime, I sat down and did kind of a self-evaluation on why some of the passes were sailing high – a lot of times I felt like my elbow was dropping down a little too low which made the ball sail on me, so again at halftime after I came out I threw a couple passes and really focused on keeping my arm high coming over the top with it, and it felt a lot better in the second half. Sometimes your mechanics get away from you a little bit.

I watched it on film a couple of times and there were a couple of throws there I just wasn’t quite stepping into the throw so I was throwing off my back foot a little […]

“I need to play better, we’ll stick together and get things together.” — Ben.

You can listen to Ben’s full post-game interview here.



Steeler Nation had a lot to say post-game – with tweets for Ben and his teammates…but probably not what you expected! Below is just a sample:


SteelersFanatic @SteelerNicole88
@_BigBen7 Crazy game! But ya’ll came back at the end! Let next game be different! We are ALL behind you Ben!” #LOYALTY (photo above)

Kate Borthwick ‏@KateCorrieFan
Humble and powerful comments @steelers players after the game were right on #westeelbelieve @_BigBen7 @AntonioBrown84 @tpolamalu @L_Bell26

MR.Jackson ‏@ChrisTurbo
@_BigBen7 Steel Believe!


Steelerdad3 ‏@DeanSusee
Tough loss, still proud! Looking forward to next week. Go Steelers!!

Gerald Iaboni ‏@Iabonig
@_BigBen7 #Steelernation a tough loss against a tough team but won’t give up on you and your team for a strong 4 game finish to take control

11:11 ‏@Roger_Saucedo
#HereWeGo @_BigBen7 keep fighting! Win lose or tie I’m @Steelers fan ’til I die, we never throw in towel!


Chef Cherrico ‏@BGUD123456
Hey man sorry to hear about your hand bro. I know you guys lost, but keep your head up. There’s always next week
@_BigBen7

♡Steelers Country♡ ‏@____korrea
Ben although you played a tough game, you are still my champ and I will always love you

Mike Brzezicki ‏@MikeBrzezicki
@_BigBen7 tough tough game, you guys played hard all game. Get ready for cincy #steelernation


John Calgelia ‏@JohnCalgelia
@_BigBen7 same as 2005, Steelers control their season. Glad to see the team keep playing hard. Shows good attitude & character

Michael Wittman ‏@Wittman7
@MaurkicePouncey @_BigBen7 @jharrison9292 @Southcity22 @L_Bell26 we still believe let’s win the last 4 and get in!

TheMantheMytheLegend ‏@Steel_Legends
@_BigBen7 I believe in you. Keep your chin up and beat the Bengals.


Terri G. ‏@cacidou
@steelers @jharrison9292 @AntonioBrown84 @_BigBen7 @L_Bell26 @Ike_SwagginU @tpolamalu Finish the season strong for @bkeisel99



Thank you Steeler Nation!


The Steelers didn’t just lose today’s game, they lost Brett Keisel to a tricep injury! Prayers go out to #99!!

…for one young man, shared with us via Twitter!

Make-A-Wish GPA & WV @MakeAWishPAWV
8 y/o Max of Moscow, PA, got the best #BlackFriday find of all – a day with @_BigBen7 & the @steelers

The Ben Roethlisberger Foundation and Sarris Candies have teamed up to raise money for K-9 units across the country.

“We’re so grateful for Sarris Candies’ generous support. We’re excited to involve a local favorite like Sarris Candies in helping to support our police and fire departments!” — Ben

Each NFL season, The Ben Roethlisberger Foundation distributes grants to police and fire department K-9 units in the city, and surrounding community, of each regular season away game for the Steelers. The foundation also distributes several grants each year to K-9 units in the Pittsburgh area.

K-9 units are often woefully underfunded and depend on public donations to continue their important work protecting the community and their human partners.

To help involve the community in supporting this important cause, Sarris Candies and The Ben Roethlisberger Foundation have designed a cause-marketing program that allows chocolate lovers to purchase their favorite Sarris’ candies guilt-free:

You read it right! Just use the group code of 77-7777 on Sarris Candies’ website, (www.Sarriscandiesfundraising.com) to purchase any of Sarris’ expansive candy fundraising catalog products, like the Pittsburgh Black and Gold Assortment.

Sarris will then donate 25% of the purchase price to Ben’s foundation.

Bill Sarris, President of Sarris Candies, observed, “Giving back to the community in which we live has long been a core belief here at Sarris Candies and we’re excited to have the opportunity to have a little influence and encourage people to support and donate to such a worthy cause in our community.”

The Foundation distributed $157,600 in grants to K-9 units around the country during the 2013 NFL season and has distributed in excess of $1.2 million since 2007.

The Ben Roethlisberger Foundation is a component fund of The Giving Back Fund.


For more details on how to donate to Ben’s foundation through Sarris Candies, please visit www.sarriscandiesfundraising.com.

“I absolutely think it’s a must win. We feel this is a very important game. We have to put together a stretch of football that we never played before. That’s what we are preparing to do.” — Ben.

From Steelers.com:

Re: Running more against the Saints:

It’s still early in the week. We are going to evaluate them more and ourselves. We are just going to try to do whatever we think will help us win the game.


Re: Two elite QBs playing against each other and going up against someone like Drew Brees:

You know how good of a player he is. You know that you have to step your game up because your offense counts on it. It’s an honor to be on the field with a guy like that. I will continue to watch him. I have watched him for a long time. I know him well. He’s a great football player. Hopefully our defense steps up and helps him not have a good day.


You know Drew pretty well?

Yeah, I know him just from over the years and doing events and things like that.


How close are you to figuring out the run against the pass defense and pass against the run defense and being capable of both and taking what the defense gives you?

You can sit there and look at how the Ravens ran the ball and how we ran the ball well but every week is different. The Saints could come in and shut down the run for all we know and we’d have to throw the ball. Or vice versa. That’s why we put together a game plan and have plan, work that plan and plan for the unexpected.


Re: The confidence to do either one:

Very confident; we feel if we have to run it we can or throw it, we can do that too. That goes to all the weapons that we have and how well the offensive line is playing.


Have you ever seen an AFC North race like this?

No. There hasn’t been, because Cleveland, as long as I have been here, hasn’t done what they have been doing. It’s pretty fun. It speaks to this division and what each team has done.


Have […]