Big Ben expected to step up as leader for postseason push

Friday, December 30, 2005
By Gerry Dulac, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette

Ben Roethlisberger is not a quarterback of many throws, but he certainly knows a good pass when he sees one. And Bill Cowher delivered one the other day, figuratively tossing the leadership torch to his second-year quarterback.

Like a good receiver, Roethlisberger deftly accepted the toss and cradled the honor to his sternum.
"I think they can count on me," Roethlisberger said. "And I want them to be able to count on me."

The Steelers voted on their most valuable player yesterday, and the winners were receiver Hines Ward and nose tackle Casey Hampton, the second time in the past four years there have been co-MVPs. But there is probably little question which player means the most to the Steelers and their chances in the playoffs, should they get there -- Roethlisberger.

He is 21-3 as a starter in the regular season, leads the league in yards per attempt and touchdown percentage and is one of three NFL quarterbacks with a passer rating over 100.

"I think the guys have kind of accepted that with me and I think I try to go on the field and play that way," Roethlisberger said. "I'm not a guy who's going to be yelling or ranting and raving and trying to talk to be a leader. I'd rather lead by example. It's made me feel more comfortable out there on the field."

Roethlisberger has attempted fewer passer (252) than any of the top 24 rated quarterbacks in the league. But when he does throw, the results are outstanding.

He is the only active quarterback who is unbeaten (11-0) in career games in which he has thrown 20 or fewer passes, according to Stats LLC. And he is 18-0 in games in which he has attempted 25 or fewer passes.

Three of those victories were accomplished in the past three games against Chicago, Minnesota and Cleveland, when Roethlisberger attempted a combined 55 passes. He has not thrown an interception in those games, despite facing secondaries that have combined for 61 interceptions.
"Ben is a leader out there for us, there is no question about that," coach Bill Cowher said. "He's a very focused player right now and he needs to be, we are all kind of following his lead."

"You got to perform to be a leader," said Pro Bowl guard Alan Faneca. "You have to. You can't really say much when you're not really doing it yourself. You got to pull your own weight and show what you're willing to do to get others to follow."

There is no greater illustration of the impact Roethlisberger has had on the Steelers than to compare his development with Detroit's Joey Harrington, the quarterback he will oppose Sunday at Heinz Field.

Harrington was the third overall choice in the 2002 draft, but he has won 18 games in four seasons with the Lions -- three fewer than Roethlisberger. He has been so erratic and inaccurate that he was replaced for four games this season by veteran Jeff Garcia. Harrington ranks 32 out of 34 NFL quarterbacks with a passer rating of 68.7.

Roethlisberger is the opposite. He has completed 64 percent of his passes (357 of 557) since he was the 11th overall pick in the 2004 draft and is coming off a game in which the players and coaches are still talking about the accurate throws he made in the 41-0 victory in Cleveland.
"He's a big kid at heart," Ward said. "When the pressure is there, when times are tough and you need to make a big play, he might make a comment where he loosens everyone up and get things going. He's done a great job of handling everything. This year, he's been in every scenario possible -- coming from behind, doing the two-minute drill, he was in a shootout. He's experienced all that and he's going to continue to grow."

Roethlisberger (103.4) is one of only three quarterbacks in the NFL with a passer rating of 100 or higher. The others are Peyton Manning of Indianapolis (104.3) and Cincinnati's Carson Palmer (101.4). His completion percentage (63.9) trails Manning's (67.4) and Palmer's (67.9), but he leads the NFL in average yards per attempt (8.93) and touchdown percentage (6.7). His average gain of nearly 9 yards proves he likes to throw the ball downfield and is successful doing so.

"We only ask him to throw 15 or 17 times, but, when you ask him to throw those 15 or 17, over half of them are third downs," coach Bill Cowher said. "I think that is a lot of pressure to put on a guy, to say we are going to throw now and you have to complete this so we can keep the drive going.
"I think, in a lot of respects, it is probably a lot harder than a guy who is throwing the ball 25 or 30 or 35 times because he can throw a couple incompletions and all the focus isn't just on that. I think what we ask him to do is probably a lot more demanding, from that perspective, than what other people in other systems are in."
Cowher's point is well-founded, if not slightly skewed. In the five games in which Roethlisberger has attempted 20 or fewer passes this season, the only game in which half his attempts were on third down was against Chicago. Roethlisberger completed 13 of 20 passes for 173 yards against the Bears but was 6 of 10 for 80 yards on third down.

In the past three games, Roethlisberger has attempted 55 passes -- his fewest in a three-game stretch since he attempted 55 in games against Philadelphia, Cleveland and Cincinnati last season. Of those, 23 came on third down, or 41.8 percent.

"Coming into this year, I felt a little more comfortable," Roethlisberger said. "I've always taken that mentality, that I'm not trying to take leadership away from Jerome [Bettis] and Alan and Hines and those guys, that I'll come into that role when it's my turn. I think slowly it kind of has been passed on to me. Not that I'm the leader over those guys, but equal to them, or close to equal. And I think that's the role of a quarterback."

(Gerry Dulac can be reached at gdulac@post-gazette.com or 412-263-1466.)