Should the Pittsburgh Steelers have kept running?
Pittsburgh Steelers quarterback, Ben Roethlisberger has been in the spotlight lately and every analyst seemed to be looking to find a way to put him alongside NFL’s elite quarterbacks. The analysts said that he did not match the
statistics of Peyton Manning or the Super Bowl Rings of Tom Brady, but still he was touted as the win-at-all-costs quarterback.
He had two wins in two Super Bowl appearances. Ben had also led his team through to the playoffs and to the Super Bowl in his rookie year. Given that he had the lowest Super Bowl passer ratings of any quarterback who ever won the
Championship, but even with his ratings of 22.6, Roethlisberger got the job done and that it is all that counts. Two years later and a year after winning the AFC title, Roethlisberger was at it again. He led the Steelers to the Super Bowl with a win over the
Arizona Cardinals.
His passer ratings in that season were at a barely respectable mark of 80.1. Two weeks before this year’s Super Bowl, the Steelers defeated the New York Jets to take the conference title. Roethlisberger’s passer ratings were just
35.5. That still did not stop Pittsburgh from winning the game.
With those two Super Bowl wins and four AFC championships, Big Ben earned the trust of his teammates. Even as Roethlisberger struggled to connect with his receivers and kept throwing interceptions this Sunday against the Green
Bay Packers, his team never lost hope in him.
“I thought it was going to be one of those magical moments,” wide receiver Hines Ward said. “I had a feeling we were going to do it again. We’ve been in that situation so many times. So many drives.”
The Steelers came out winning in many of those situations. The Steelers needed a touchdown in the final two minutes of the game against the Packers and they were virtually in the same situation against the Cardinals in 2008. However,
Roethlisberger pulled through for the Steelers and rallied the offence from the 22-yard line to touchdown.
Against the Packers on Sunday, the Steelers had one minute and 59 seconds to cover 87 yards. It was not impossible but given how the Steelers offence had been doing throughout the game, the odds were not in their favour. The Steelers
offence did have one thing going for them though; their rush was as strong as ever. Their offence opened the third quarter with a 50-yard series that led to Pittsburgh’s second touchdown of the game. Solely the rush, specifically by Rashard Mendenhall, who
rushed 25 yards and scored the touchdown, powered that drive.
The Steelers were back on the offence after forcing the Packers off the field with a three-and-out. Mewelde Moore rushed seven yards to give the Steelers a first down on the Packers 44. Instead of relying on the rush, which the
Packers seemed helpless to stop by that point in the game, the Steelers decided to throw the ball.
Roethlisberger attempted to pass the ball on the next five plays. The Steelers gained 12 yards in those five plays. On the fifth, the quarterback was sacked and the drive stalled. Pittsburgh attempted the field goal but Shaun Suisham’s
52-yard field goal was no good. The question that needs to be asked is, was it a mistake to not run the ball more?
The Steelers had rushed 119 yards on 20 carries by that point in the game. In the last 22 minutes of the game, Pittsburgh attempted the rush just three times after that for seven more yards. The Packers rush defence ranked 18th in
the 2010 season. Their pass rush ranked fifth and Roethlisberger had gotten a revelation of an introduction to its effectiveness in the first half.
The Steelers should have stayed with what worked for them instead of trying to pass against a team that thrives on stopping the rush. 126 yards off 23 carries is a good rushing attack in any game. It could have been better though
and it could have tipped the scales in favour of the Pittsburgh Steelers.
(The views expressed by the writer are his own and do not reflect the editorial policy of http://answers.bettor.com/External.aspx?url=http://www.bettor.com)
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