Titans vs Steelers: Dick LeBeau on the key to stopping Ben Roethlisberger

By Jason Wolf
http://www.tennessean.com/
November 14, 2017



Titans defensive coordinator Dick LeBeau — one of the living legends of the game and the architect of the Steelers defense that helped to win two Super Bowls — was asked about the key to stopping Ben Roethlisberger in advance of the teams meeting on “Thursday Night Football” in Pittsburgh.

“Well, if I knew the key to stopping Ben Roethlisberger,” LeBeau said, “I’d have won a hell of a lot more games than I’ve won. Nobody’s really stopped him. But we’re going to try to stop him and his teammates from dominating the game, keep the score in touch and give our guys a chance to win, the same thing we do every week that we go out there.”

The Titans (6-3) will have their hands full with the Steelers (7-2), who are tied with the Patriots for the best record in the AFC and feature two of the best skill-position players in the NFL in running back Le’Veon Bell and wide receiver Antonio Brown.

“Their running back leads the NFL,” LeBeau said. “Their wide receiver leads the NFL. Their quarterback is a two-time Super Bowl champion. That’s a few weapons right there.”

Roethlisberger, 35, led the Steelers to two Super Bowl championships in his first four seasons in the league, defeating the Seahawks in Super Bowl XL and the Cardinals in Super Bowl XLIII. The Steelers also reached Super Bowl XLV, where they lost to the Packers.

LeBeau was the Steelers’ defensive coordinator fall all of those seasons.

“To show him something that he hasn’t seen before,” LeBeau said about Roethlisberger, “I think that’s an impossibility. But we’ll try to disguise and try to make him read us after the snap. He’s a great diagnostician. He really can take a look at you and find out where you’re going, and it’s part of the reason he’s been so successful.”

“We’re going to try to confuse him some, but I don’t expect that it won’t be something that he hasn’t seen before.”

Reach Jason Wolf at jwolf@tennessean.com and follow him on Twitter at @JasonWolf and on Instagram and Snapchat at TitansBeat.