Ben Roethlisberger: Pittsburgh Steelers' defense carried lackadaisical offense to victory
Ben Roethlisberger and the Pittsburgh Steelers offense struggled mightily for most of their season opener against the Buffalo Bills, and the veteran quarterback was the first one to acknowledge it postgame.
“We anticipate that a little bit, the bumps in the road that the offense is going to have,” Roethlisberger said. “The newness, the kind of stability — what we expect — is our defense to carry us.”
The defense certainly carried Roethlisberger and the Steelers for much of Sunday’s victory. The Steelers in the first half amassed five consecutive punts, failing to score as much as a field goal before halftime. They went to the locker room after the first half trailing 10-0, as Roethlisberger and the offense was able to amass just 37 yards of total offense while running 21 first-half plays.
By the conclusion of the game, the offense had somewhat recouped. Down 10-0 to open the third quarter, the Steelers scored on each of their four possessions of the second half; first, Chris Boswell nailed two field goals from 20 and 24 yards out in the third quarter. Then, in the fourth quarter, Roethlisberger was finally able to throw a five-yard touchdown to Diontae Johnson to break his cold streak.
By game’s end, Roethlisberger managed to complete just 18 of his 32 passing attempts for 188 passing yards and a touchdown. The Steelers’ rushing attack seemed to be just as inefficient, as rookie first-round pick out of Alabama Najee Harris managed to run for just 45 yards on 16 carries.
The defense carried Roethlisberger and the Steelers offense, not just by keeping the Bills to 16 points, but by forcing four fumbles (only one of which was recovered). Even the special teams unit chimed in, as Ulysees Gilbert III managed to return a blocked punt for a score.
“I appreciated [the defense’s] efforts, I appreciate what they do in not losing faith in us,” Roethlisberger said. “There’s going to be other times throughout this year that they’re going to have to carry us. And there might be times where we have to carry them. You just don’t know.”
With the defense’s ability to keep the Bills’ rushing attack in check, hold Buffalo’s offense to just 16 points and allow them to convert on just one of three fourth-down conversion attempts, they did their part to support the offense. The special teams unit was much of the same story, as they contributed with a block, scoop and score of their own. Roethlisberger on Sunday acknowledged the team effort, in which each position group supported the others.
“This was a team win,” Roethlisberger said. “Offense, defense, special teams. And that’s what I think I’m most proud about.”
Rothlisberger had just one complaint about the victory, and it was an uncontrollable aspect of the game: the weather.
“The wind was a factor,” he said.