Mike Prisuta: Season sails on Ben

By Mike Prisuta
TRIBUNE-REVIEW

Tuesday, December 26, 2006

The two interceptions Ben Roethlisberger threw against the Ravens were his 21st and 22nd in 2006, tying Terry Bradshaw (1971, 1980) for the fourth-highest single-season total in Steelers history.

Still, it was the passes that weren't caught that were much more defining against Baltimore.

Start with the one to Santonio Holmes that sailed on Roethlisberger on third-and-four on the Steelers' second possession. Roethlisberger had just completed his first pass of the day, good for 12 yards and the Steelers' initial first down, to Hines Ward. Willie Parker had quickly picked up 6 more. Third-and-four constitutes third-and-manageable from the Steelers' perspective.
Roethlisberger had all day to manage this one. And Holmes was wide open underneath.

It could have been a big play.

Instead, it was a portent of things to come.

Roethlisberger was high, low, wide, anything but accurate against the Ravens.

While Steve McNair was making perfect throws that allowed even covered receivers to make plays for him, Roethlisberger was making his would-be pass-catchers work too hard just to have a chance.

The Steelers can start there when they assess the wreckage of a 31-7 loss that eliminated them from playoff contention on a Christmas Eve when the Bills, Jaguars and Bengals seemed determined to provide every opportunity to somehow qualify.

Maybe next year.

First and foremost, Big Ben is going to have to sort through his Baltimore problem.

The nine-sack avalanche Roethlisberger survived on Nov. 26 while the Steelers were being beaten, 27-0, clearly had a carry-over effect on Sunday.

Although he wound up being sacked five times, he had enough time.

Just not the touch.

Rediscovering that will be offseason job No. 1.

If Roethlisberger can survive next offseason without a life-threatening motorcycle accident, if he can get through next preseason without any emergency surgeries, and if the Steelers can keep him upright better than they did this season, he'll be well on his way.

But beyond all that, Roethlisberger must first deal with a season that turned into an individual and collective failure.

He went 13-0 as a regular-season starter during his first NFL season and won the Super Bowl at the conclusion of his second.

Is it any wonder Roethlisberger was talking of reassessing goals that somehow no longer seemed lofty enough and expanding horizons for himself and his offense last spring?

Now, he's tasted defeat for the first time as a professional.

It wasn't a total collapse.

Roethlisberger surpassed 3,000 yards passing for the first time in three seasons (at 3,248, he's fourth on the Steelers' single-season list in that category), and his 17 touchdown passes matched the totals from his first two campaigns.

But more than statistics, winning in the NFL comes down to making plays at the critical times.
Roethlisberger and the Steelers came up short far too many times to take advantage of an open back door to the postseason.

They'll recognize that eventually, if they haven't already.

The lineup around Roethlisberger will be tweaked, as it always is from one season to the next.

Adding another big-play receiver, preferably a big one through the draft or free agency, wouldn't hurt.

But the biggest change must come from Roethlisberger responding to having been figuratively and literally knocked down.

He had something to prove when the Steelers drafted him 11th overall out of Miami (Ohio) as the third quarterback selected.

He has something to prove again.

There are worse things to have than a former Super Bowl champion in such a position at 24 years of age.

Mike Prisuta is a columnist for the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review.