Big Ben, hurt again

Every year it happens. At least thats the way it seems.

One September his appendix burst.

There was the Monday night a Kansas City Chief nearly put a rib bone through his heart…or something like that.

His knee folded like an accordion the same night James Harrison destroyed Colt McCoy and earned himself another suspension.

It happened twice last year. Once in St. Louis, again in the playoffs.

He’s never out for too long. It’s always kind of serious, never gravely serious. Sometimes it hampers him for the rest of the year, other times it disappears by January.

As a result, we’ve seen an eclectic group of QBs captain the Steelers on an emergency basis. Byron Leftwich, Tommy Maddox, Dennis Dixon. Weirdly, Michael Vick.

Charlie Batch was the best of them. Did you know he was 6-3 as a starter in Pittsburgh?

Now it’s Landry Jones.

Every year it happens, and when it does a city — no, a Nation — panics.

Yes, Big Ben Roethlisberger is a gigantic paradox. Tough as nails, but also brittle. He’s never torn an ACL or anything like that (hang on, knocking on every piece of wood I can find), but just about every year he misses a game or four.

This season it’s really a shame. Utter atrocities in Philly and Miami notwithstanding, the 2016 Pittsburgh Steelers had — and have — legitimate Super Bowl aspirations. By December, as long as the quarterback is there, so too will be the expectations.

Now, though, its a matter of survival.

Four-to-six weeks is disappointing, especially given the early prognostications that he could have been back as soon as Baltimore after the bye.

The good news is that a 4-2 record provides a decent cushion, and the AFC North is underwhelming. No one is likely to run away with it over the next five weeks.

But, it is a rough time on the schedule for this to happen. Last year a gutsy Monday night win in San Diego and an upset of the Cardinals were enough to deliver the squad back to Ben with minimal damage.

Now an always-tough game against the Patriots looks damn near unwinnable. Going on the road against the Ravens the next week becomes scary. A loss to Dak and Dallas (Romo and Dallas?) would drop the Steelers to 4-5 and a precarious position. Suddenly a road game in Cleveland becomes a must-win (and a should-win, even if Roethlisberger is still on the shelf).

The criticism of Landry Jones among Steeler fans is misguided. He plays like a backup quarterback, because he is a backup quarterback. We simply cannot hold him to the same standard that we do Big Ben.

I’m not interested in critiquing his play over the next month. We will not feel comfortable when the ball leaves his hand. There will be underthrows, overthrows, throws batted down, throws to the other team.

Mike Tomlin likes to refer to “all three phases of the game.” For years, we saw the defense work double time to win games. This year’s primary breadwinner, the offense, is temporarily disabled. Doesn’t matter. They need to win one, better yet two.

Let’s say Ben misses 3 or 4 games and is back either November 20 in Cleveland or Thanksgiving night in Indy.

3-0 or 4-0 in that stretch is…well, it’s unlikely. 2-1 or 3-1 and we’ll be dancing in the streets. 1-2 or 2-2 we could live with.

A prolonged losing streak, however, will kill what may be the Steelers’ best chance to get a third ring in the Roethlisberger era.

Survive.

 

yup we are going 4-5, blowouts from dallas and pats. Not sure we even beat those teams with Ben lol our defense is bad, worse than last year.

 

Ben just acquired the rights from Frank Thomas for his nickname.
Big Ben will now be known as
Big Hurt.


p.s. It was a fierce bidding war, but Ben beat our Shazier!

 

Not saying we miss the playoffs or won't improve by then though