Ben Roethlisberger says he's not playing well enough
Pittsburgh Steelers quarterback Ben Roethlisberger has stepped up and taken the blame for the team’s slow offensive start. The Steeler’s offense struggled to find any rhythm against the Las Vegas Raiders defense on Sunday.
Roethlisberger takes the blame
During the post-game press conference, one reporter asked what he thought contributed to Roethlisberger’s poor play.
“I don’t know, said Roethlisberger. “It’s frustrating because I put a lot of stinking time in. More than I probably ever have. And I’m not really sure I gotta get it figured out though because I’m frustrated that I am not playing well enough. The good news is that it’s still early, you know, we got a long road ahead of us and we got a lot of time to get it fixed.”
Roethlisberger and the Steelers offense struggled against the Las Vegas Raiders, with the veteran quarterback logging 295 passing yards on 27 completions in 40 attempts, along with one touchdown and one interception. The Steelers could hardly string together much in the run game, either. First-round draft pick out of Alabama, Najee Harris, had ten carries for 38 yards, while backup running back Benny Snell Jr. had two rushes for one yard.
Diontae Johnson and Chase Claypool were Roethlisberger’s two most successful targets, as Johnson tallied six receptions for 105 yards and Claypool had three receptions for 70 yards. Johnson appeared to have sustained a knee injury on the last play of the game, but recent reports out of Pittsburgh say the early indications point to the injury not being serious.
Steelers identity
Later in the conference, Roethlisberger was asked about how the Steelers can find an offensive identity.
“The best way to figure out an identity is for the quarterback to play better. So that what I need to I’ll work on me.”
Contributing to the woes for the Pittsburgh Steelers is their lack of an offensive identity. Over the first two games, the team has only compiled 114 yards rushing on 35 attempts. They have a league-worst 57 yards per game rushing. And their numbers through the air aren’t too impressive either. Roethlisberger is 18th in the league in passing yards with 483. His two touchdown passes are tied for 21st overall. The lack of offensive identity and offensive consistency has the Steelers at the bottom of the NFL in total offense.
The Steelers and Ben Roethlisberger look to turn their offensive misfortunes around when they host the Cinniatti Bangels this Sunday. The game’s kickoff is scheduled for 1 p.m. EST.
on3’s Simon Gibbs contributed to this story