Recap from Teresa Varley, Steelers.com:
Ben Roethlisberger put last week’s disappointing loss to Jacksonville behind him the minute the team wrapped their meetings and finished watching film of the game on Monday afternoon.
It’s nothing unusual. It’s the same thing he does after a big win as well, because he knows on the horizon is another challenge.
And this week it comes from the undefeated Kansas City Chiefs, who sit atop the AFC at 5-0.
“They do a lot of unusual things on offense and their defense gets after the quarterback, ball hawking in the secondary,” said Roethlisberger. “We are going into an awesome environment this week with the last undefeated team, a football team that is playing really well, that leads the AFC. What an awesome challenge for us.”
The Chiefs have four interceptions on the season, but that number doesn’t speak to the aggressive approach the secondary plays with.
“They are really good,” said Roethlisberger. “(Marcus) Peters may be one of the best in the business. Always seems to around the ball, making plays. Even when it’s man coverage he leaves his man to intercept balls. I have a lot of film study to do to get ready for this team.
“You play a great team like this, a great team on the road, with the environment they always have there at Arrowhead. I am just excited for it. You do this long enough you get excited for these matchups.”
Roethlisberger has stressed the importance of the offense playing with more detail, and playing at Arrowhead Stadium, one of the toughest places to play in the NFL, is definitely going to require everyone to be on point, particularly in the red zone where the Steelers were 0 for 3 last week.
“It’s a shorter field, things happen quicker,” said Roethlisberger. “You have to understand reads quicker. Sometimes defenses give you looks you are not prepared for, when I say not prepared for, not a look they gave somebody else that you saw on film study. That happened to us. You have to make in game adjustments as well. You have to have your preparation and practice field stuff ready to go.”
Wanting the ball: Earlier this week Le’Veon Bell said he would like to have seen the offense run the ball more against the Jaguars. Bell carried the ball 15 times for 47 yards.
“I don’t think we got enough attempts,” said Bell.
Roethlisberger said he knows it’s never easy to make all of his weapons happy with spreading the ball around, but you have to go with what the defense gives you.
“Everyone wants the ball,” said Roethlisberger. “That is what got people to this level, their desire, their abilities. As guys grow in their roles and understand the NFL and understand defenses and looks and reads, guys understand when it’s a good look and when it’s not.
“Last week they had eight or nine guys in the box. That is not a good week to run the ball. You can try to force it at times, but it’s not. The way the game is flowing dictates how a ball gets distributed. I am not worried about guys complaining about wanting the ball. We have a lot of guys who can make plays for us, we just need to make them.”
You can watch video of Ben’s interview here.
If you’re wondering why the website isn’t updated later this week….
I’m heading out of town to a place with questionable internet connectivity, so updating may be a bit of a problem! But I’ll be back on Wednesay! — Erin.
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