Pittsburgh QB Roethlisberger shows mettle in mud
PITTSBURGH — That was more a bog than a pocket that Ben Roethlisberger was operating from with the Pittsburgh Steelers moving from the Miami Dolphins' 42-yard line with 4:13 left in a scoreless Monday night quagmire.
As former Steelers running back Jerome Bettis would say, Roethlisberger has proven himself to be one clutch mudder.
On a mucky slip-and-slide known as Heinz Field that had been newly resodded but soaked all day by heavy rain, Roethlisberger managed to complete 18 of 21 passes for 165 yards. At one point, he completed 15 consecutive passes to tie a franchise record.
More significantly, Roethlisberger performed well after he convinced coach Mike Tomlin and offensive coordinator Bruce Arians to go no-huddle for the final two possessions.
Roethlisberger hit four of five passes for 39 yards on the nine-play drive that set up Jeff Reed's game-winning 24-yard field goal with 17 seconds remaining.
"Going into the last two series, I told Bruce and coach Tomlin, 'Just let me throw the ball. I can win this game,' " Roethlisberger says. " 'We can get it down the field. I've got confidence in my line and in my receivers.' And you saw the last drive.
"Hopefully, it just shows all the people out there who say we have to run the ball to win the game. Well, we can throw the ball, too."
Steelers wide receiver Hines Ward said Bettis was the surest Pittsburgh mudder in sloppy conditions such as the 8-3 Steelers and 0-11 Dolphins slogged through.
"We called Jerome a good mudder," Ward says. "In conditions like this, he excelled."
But Roethlisberger and Ward, who caught nine passes for 88 yards, seemingly have joined Bettis' sure-footed class.
Ward made the prettiest and longest catch of an ugly night, laying out for a 21-yard reception on the second play of the winning drive.
Ward says Roethlisberger told him: " 'Hey Hines, just make a play for me.'
"The footing was terrible. It was like running in a marsh. My game is not predicated on speed. I think I came up with every opportunity. That's what a mudder is; it's about technique and route running in conditions like that. Your concentration level has to go up tremendously."
Roethlisberger seemed to thrive in the up-tempo no-huddle, directing the 11th fourth-quarter winning drive of his four-season career.
"Ben did a nice job with the football, administering the offense, particularly when we wanted to change the rhythm," Tomlin says. "Hines Ward was big. He was Hines Ward, and we needed every one of those catches.
"It was a great team win, a test of our character."
Tomlin said the goal on the final drive was a dry piece of turf on the right side of the field at the north, protected end of the stadium.
"We did see a dry patch of ground," Tomlin says.
Dry was a relative term. Reed called it the most difficult 24-yarder of his career.
"When you hit a punt and it sticks in the ground, you know it's bad," Reed says.
Tomlin won't use the sloppy field as an excuse as the Steelers prepare to host the 4-7 Cincinnati Bengals.
"We will continue to work with the NFL game operations people this week as our grounds crew works to improve the conditions of the field in time for Sunday night's game against the Cincinnati Bengals," Steelers President Art Rooney II said in a statement.
The last time the Steelers played in such sloppy conditions was Sept. 26, 2004, when Roethlisberger won his first NFL start 13-3 at Miami after a hurricane.
That makes Roethlisberger 37-14 as a starter, including 2-0 in mud bowls against Miami.
"Ben has grown, but it's a natural maturation process," Tomlin says. "He's a guy in his fourth year. He's got a great combination of youth and experience. He believes in the men that he works with. He has natural leadership skills. He wants to be the reason that we win. He doesn't fear those moments; he embraces them.
"It's part of what makes him who he is."