Big Ben – man of Steel-ers – NFL feature
Pittsburgh Steelers quarterback Ben Roethlisberger has truly proved to be a man of steel, well Steelers, without a pun. While the team has been through some of worst times in the league history, Ben is enjoying one of the best and record-breaking periods.
His form has assumed greater importance given he had become a subject of a discussion around his retirement prospects. The player admitted he has been fast approaching maturity of his career but said he still got more football left in him, and he was right.
Although the offence leader has started making his use on the field cleverly selective, he has been thoroughly enjoying run offence introduced by new offensive coordinator Todd Haley.
It is an impressive run by the player given he has not been happy with some of the team’s decisions this year. One was the sudden release of former offensive coordinator Bruce Arians, who was forced to announce retirement after being refused a new deal by
the team.
Ben then was not happy about arrival of Haley, and has never got along with him on good terms, most of the time on a personal basis. He nevertheless has not compromised on the professional standards and is equally impressive in Haley’s new run-focused scheme.
He recently broke the record of former Steeler in total yards, and that he achieved in far less number of the games than the previous player.
It is not important here how many yards he has run, but a question that how many yards he has still got to go, and an answer to it is important for the Steelers more than the player himself.
The team has already got rid of veteran players at a number of positions this year and if players like Ben go in a couple of years, it will be a real challenge for the side to find and groom their future offence leader.
It is not a good year for the Steelers as far as their performance is concerned and Ben, who appears to be a lone warrior, has not proved to be a help because of lacklustre performance from others around him.
Coach Mike Tomlin apparently is boastful of the team’s chances but given the team have started the season the way they ended their last, nothing much appears changed in the team’s performance.
Overall, the team have been marred with a level of inconsistency, another woeful aspect of their form this season, and until and unless they click together as a team the performance like Ben’s cannot help them be out of the looming gloom.
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