Mark Kaboly: Reality Check

Reality check: Steelers say Roethlisberger, team must play much better
By: Mark Kaboly, McKeesport Daily News Sports Editor
January 18, 2005

The message was loud and clear: Ben Roethlisberger has to pick up his game.
At least that's what some of his teammates were thinking (and saying) after the rookie quarterback's worst game as a professional.


The Steelers minced no words Monday as preparations began for Sunday's AFC title game against the New England Patriots at Heinz Field.

To a man, Roethlisberger's teammates said he needs to play better than he did in last week's 20-17 overtime win against the Jets.

"He's going to have to pick his game up, we're all going to have to pick our game up," Pro Bowl lineman Alan Faneca said. "It's going to take our best effort to win this week."

Faneca's words were reminiscent of the day after former starting quarterback Tommy Maddox injured his elbow Sept. 19 in Baltimore, making Roethlisberger the starter by default.

The following week Faneca said he wasn't excited about going into a game with "some little young kid who's just out of college" instead of a veteran like Maddox. Roethlisberger went on to lead the Steelers to a 13-3 victory in Miami and followed it with 14 more consecutive wins. He's yet to lose as a professional.

Roethlisberger had one of his worst games against the Jets. He completed 17 of 30
passes for 181 yards and a touchdown. His 57.8 passer rating was more than 40 points lower than his season mark. Roethlisberger threw two costly interceptions, one returned for a touchdown by Reggie Tongue and the other put the Jets in position to kick a game-winning field goal on the final play of regulation.

"He was off a little bit," Faneca said. "We were all off a little bit as an offense. We came through when we needed to and we'll have to pick that up this week."

He wasn't singling out the rookie, but said that kind of quarterback play won't be good enough - not after the Super Bowl champion Patriots held NFL MVP Peyton Manning's Colts to a field goal in a 20-3 win Sunday.

"I definitely expected him to bounce back," team MVP linebacker James Farrior said. "He had a rough game and people were really down on him saying he played bad, but he's a young quarterback and he has a lot in his face right now."

Despite his struggles in recent weeks, Roethlisberger hasn't lost a game since September 2003. After a season-opening loss to Iowa, he led Miami of Ohio to 13 consecutive wins. Add in his 14 professional victories and that's 27 games in a row.

Nobody seems to know why the rookie has struggled over the past month.

"I wish I could tell you that," running back Jerome Bettis said. "I'm worried about the guys up front. He'll be fine. When you have a tough game like that, you've got to bounce back from it. I don't think it's something where you've got to start analyzing everything that you're doing."

Coach Bill Cowher has called Roethlisberger "unflappable" on a couple of occasions because of
the way nothing seems to bother him. However, Roethlisberger was highly critical of himself after the win over the Jets, saying he stunk. It was the first time all season that Roethlisberger's emotions overflowed during a press conference.

"He gets disappointed," Faneca said. "Everyone wants to know all year how he handles the setbacks, and just like everybody else, nobody likes it. You've got to think about it for a minute and then you've got to brush it off and move on to the next play, and that's how Ben's been handling things all year."

Roethlisberger had one of his better games against the Patriots on Halloween, but New England likely will pressure him more than it did during the 34-20 loss last time.

He threw two touchdown passes to Plaxico Burress as the Steelers opened a 21-3 lead in the first quarter and went on to end New England's 21-game winning streak.

"We most definitely have all the confidence in the world in Ben," cornerback Deshea Townsend said. "We were 15-1 because of him during the regular season. They said the same thing last time. He's a very confident guy."

©The Daily News 2005