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Would sitting Ben Roethlisberger offend or protect his legacy?

By Sebastián Vallejo. Follow your project on @HolyRollerNFL

The era of Ben Roethlisberger with the Steelers, extended for at least a year by something akin to desperation on both sides, seems to be on the verge of the worst conclusion. The Big Ben Pittsburgh is falling apart midseason because of his game.

Over four games, he has completed 64.1% of his passes for the Steelers with a 1-3 record, throwing a quartet of touchdowns and interceptions while taking 10 sacks. But the numbers hardly tell the whole story.

Background to the disaster

The road to 1-3 really began in the offseason, when Ben Roethlisberger was apparently considering retiring before agreeing to a restructured deal that saved the Steelers money. Simply put, Roethlisberger wanted to keep playing, but he wasn’t going to put on a jersey from another team at the age of 39. On the other hand, the team, after winning 12 games last year, didn’t have the capital to make a move for a great free-agent QB or one of the first-round prospects.

Questions about the veteran leader’s health haunted the Steelers late last season when they posted a 1-5 finish before being beaten by the Cleveland Browns in the wild-card round of the playoffs. What followed was the usual report about being in “the best shape of his life” this offseason.

But the reality is that nobody wants to play with someone who throws these passes:

In all fairness to Roethlisberger, there are many reasons for this, besides Father Time stepping in and putting a hand on his face. Pittsburgh’s offensive line hasn’t been the same since he lost coach Mike Munchak years ago, and this group in front of him now could be the worst inside of the entire Big Ben era.

What is the real problem on offense?

A lackluster cast of weapons hasn’t helped make up for his shortcomings as a passer. Chase Claypool It looks like he could be an elite player, but Diontae Johnson has struggled with drop problems, and JuJu Smith-Schuster he’s back after little interest from teams in the free-agent market.

The team invested a first-round pick in the RB Najee Harris (rather than a larger problem area like the offensive line), but you can’t go through with poor running block, not to mention the minimal impact running backs have these days. Calls from playbook, inconsistent and poor, they have not alleviated any concerns either.

Now, despite the above, much of this also falls on the veteran quarterback, the confidence that the coaches have in him and, apparently, his confidence in his own right arm. Ben Roethlisberger has missed several easy passes that should have been completed deep, including several pitches that could have resulted in a touchdown for his offense throughout his four games this year.

What is the solution with Ben Roethlisberger at this point?

Unfortunately for the Steelers, there is no easy fix. In part, that’s why they settled again for their veteran quarterback. Mason Rudolph It has been disappointing most of the time. Meanwhile, the redemption arc of Dwayne Haskins it’s been regular, as the former first-round pick was uninspiring at best during the preseason.

However, there is the feeling that whatever they can do differently, it could be better right now. The defenses are bombarding the QB because he cannot move, and the secondary “sits” in short situations because he is no longer reliable in depth. Going for a more mobile quarterback who can extend plays, make designed throws and threaten a read option with RB Harris could be more effective.

Not much is available at the moment if the Steelers look outside the organization. Cam Newton is out there, but the same media circus That New England wanted to avoid is probably something Pittsburgh doesn’t want either.

An exchange might be a better option, unrealistic as it may seem. Maybe the Steelers can convince the Raiders to take Marcus Mariota, since Derek Carr continues to play elite football. However, they probably don’t have the capital to get a Deshaun Watson, or probably even a Jimmy Garoppolo, capital is tight.

The Steelers played and lost by betting so much in the hope that Ben could improvise one last playoff road. Either way, the timeline is important. No one is saying we unplug Big Ben right now, but the calendar says it all. The Steelers played Aaron Rodgers and the Green Bay Packers in Week 4, then they will go against those aggressive Denver Broncos in Week 5 and a Seattle Seahawks without Russell Wilson but aggressive on defense in Week 6, all before their break.

That bye It surely seems like the sweet spot for the Steelers to sit down their quarterback and find out in an organizationally polite way if the team is able to lift itself, at worst, from a 1-5 record and little offensive improvement. This is not how either party would have wanted things to end, in what is guaranteed to be a Hall of Fame path.

But right now? Ben Roethlisberger’s legacy is beginning to suffer. A bad ending will never overshadow his incredible feats in any way, but it is brutal here in the land of social media. He’s also making plays that would see most of the other passers benched, and the best Ben would never consider it.

As much as the Steelers want to do their best for their icon, keeping him in while looking like this is having the opposite effect.

Verdict

No matter what the Steelers do, they are not likely to have a QB to push the ball down the field as today’s game requires. Short-range irregular play will no longer make it, especially if you’ve lost that ability to move and keep alive the plays that once made you so dangerous.

If there’s one silver lining that Steelers fans probably won’t want to hear, it’s that the current trajectory will at least keep them within reach of a top-tier passer in next year’s draft. But that will require leaving Roethlisberger out there to look like a relic out of his time, or sitting him in a supporting role to sustain the work.

There’s no easy option for everyone involved, but that Week 7 break appears to be marked in red ink, as a possible historic moment for the 2021 Steelers.

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