Ron Cook: Big Ben Backs it Up in Big Way

Big Ben backs up his words in big way, and passer rating proves the point
Monday, September 12, 2005
Pittsburgh Post-Gazette

It's unclear who initiated the little chat that Bill Cowher and Ben Roethlisberger had early last week. Cowher seemed to indicate he sought out Big Ben to tell him not to worry about living up to the heavy expectations he created with his otherworldly performance as a rookie in the Steelers' march to 15-1 last season. Roethlisberger hinted he felt the need to go to Cowher after his offense failed to score a touchdown in the four exhibition games. "I just wanted to tell coach not to lose confidence in me."

At least, Cowher and Roethlisberger agreed how their conversation ended.
"Just relax, coach. We'll be OK," Roethlisberger said.
"OK, show me," Cowher responded.
And so Big Ben did.

All is well in Steelers Nation because Roethlisberger, after flailing in the preseason, played the perfect game in the 34-7 win against the Tennessee Titans yesterday. That's not an opinion. It's a fact, based on the NFL's passer rating system. Big Ben's big number -- 158.3 -- is as big as it gets.
"You only throw a couple of balls. It's not hard to do," Roethlisberger said, gee-whizzing.

It's true, Roethlisberger attempted just 11 passes, the fewest by a Steelers quarterback in nearly 28 years. But, if you can remember a quarterback getting so much out of so little, you have a better memory than me. Roethlisberger was right on, from his first pass -- a sweet lob just over cornerback Andre Woolfolk's hands for a 14-yard gain to Hines Ward -- to his final pass -- a bullet from the shotgun and a four-wide receiver set to Cedric Wilson for 14 yards on a third-and-1 play. In between, Roethlisberger threw a short touchdown pass to tight end Heath Miller -- no kidding! -- and a long one to Antwaan Randle El. His nine completions went to six different receivers for 218 yards, only one fewer yard than Tennessee quarterback Steve McNair produced with his 18 completions.
"You get the ball close to our receivers, they're going to make plays," Roethlisberger said, gee-whizzing again.

The team party line after the game was that no one inside the locker room was concerned about the woeful look of the pass offense in the exhibition games. That, of course, was a big lie. Cowher counts, doesn't he? He was plenty concerned and said so publicly. Even after the passing game was so productive yesterday, he muttered something about it being the first time all year the Steelers looked like a professional team throwing the football.
Translation: It's about time.
"I think coach was just frustrated," Steelers offensive coordinator Ken Whisenhunt said. "He had a right to be. We weren't as efficient as we should have been."

But, like Roethlisberger, Whisenhunt whispered sweet nothings into Cowher's ear about the offense being on the verge of a breakout game. Whisenhunt knew he had a game plan designed to attack the Titans' weaknesses and capitalize on what the Steelers do best. That meant calling only two consecutive dropback passes for Roethlisberger, instead getting him outside the pocket, where he is most effective. "That's not something we wanted to show in the preseason," Whisenhunt said. "I learned that from [Hall of Fame coach] Joe Gibbs a long time ago. 'Don't tip your hand in the preseason games.' "

Whisenhunt also had been hoarding a play-action pass for tight end Jerame Tuman down the middle. Wouldn't you know Tuman was wide open and the gain was 27 yards?
"How many balls did you say we threw? 11? And two went to the tight ends? I'd say that's a pretty big number, wouldn't you?" Whisenhunt asked, grinning.
Hey, you'd be in a good mood, too, if your quarterback had the day Roethlisberger did.
It helped the offense that Ward has settled back in after his contract holdout. That's enabled Randle El and Wilson to get work at their normal spots instead of bouncing around.

Then, there was the Willie Parker factor. It's no wonder some in the Steelers' hierarchy insisted last week that they weren't worried about how Fast Willie would play, but rather about how they were going to get him out of the lineup to get Jerome Bettis and Duce Staley back in. After Parker ran for 161 yards and caught a screen pass for 48 yards, it won't happen next Sunday in Houston even if Bettis or Staley is ready. "I see no reason to make a change," Cowher said.
We'll pause here for the requisite mention of Wally Pipp.

But Parker won't always gain that kind of yardage. He's going to face tougher defenses than the weak-tackling Titans. The Steelers still figure to go as far as Roethlisberger takes them. That's why this performance was so encouraging. He again reinforced the belief he's a franchise quarterback.
Sooner or later, Roethlisberger will lose his first regular-season game. He's 15-0 as a starter, speaking of perfection.
But as long as Big Ben plays like this, the Steelers won't lose many.

(Ron Cook can be reached at rcook@post-gazette.com or 412-263-1525.)