Steelers face harsh QB reality after Ben Roethlisberger

Welcome to Hell Quarterback, Pittsburgh.

If Steelers fans think they’ve seen what its preview looks like on Sunday night – when the first half of a 42-21 loss to the chiefs in the playoffs of the AFC Wild-card ended with fewer passes over the net (13) than substitute Ben Roethlisberger (15) – they have yet to see anything.

Can’t it get worse? Oh, it can. It has. It will likely happen when Roethlisberger officially retires in the coming days.

“That means I will wear black and yellow,” says Roethlisberger. “Above [2004] On draft day, I wore a black suit with a yellow tie. I hope that I can pass on the legacy of being a Man of Steel… to some of them. ”

The Steelers made nine draft picks in 2021 – after the last six games revealed how close Roethlisberger was near the end – and did not employ one in midfield. The Steelers stood still and let the last of five full-backs in the first round, Mac Jones, fall to the Patriots in the 15th pick while settling to win back Najee Harris in 24th. .

When the full-fledged Chiefs came through in the first 20 minutes, the Steelers had a chance to take the lead, play attacking from the front and defeat the fear of an upset. Instead, they bet on each of their seven assets in the first half, becoming the first team to do so in the playoffs since the 2010 Seahawks.

The Steelers have 45 offensive yards (and one defensive touchpoint) by which time the Chiefs have 35. Roethlisberger’s time with the receiver didn’t seem to go well – even on short routes that relied on two years as his arm strength waned – and he finished 29/44 in 215 yards with two touchdowns, just after piling up the garbage time numbers.

“Shooting, we thought last week was going to be the end,” Roethlisberger said of how the Steelers dropped into the knockout stages. “No matter what, it will be very emotional. We never want to lose. [Retirement] will probably really hit me at training camp time. ”

Perhaps the Steelers were fooled by a counter-performance in a loss, as Roethlisberger threw for a near-playoff record 501 yards in 47 attempts to lead the comeback from a 28-0 deficit but failed. , 48-37, ahead of the Browns in 2021. This isn’t the first time nostalgia for a two-time Super Bowl champion has caused interference, as Giants fans can attest.

Either way, the Steelers can get in as a freelancer with one man’s quadrant depth chart: Mason Rudolph. Both Dwayne Haskins (restricted) – Washington’s first bust in 2019 – and Josh Dobbs (unrestricted) are freelance agents. Anyway, that Roethlisberger backup trio is 8-14-1 at the start of NFL games.

“Open to all of that,” said general manager Kevin Colbert, ahead of a 2021 draft of a possible Roethlisberger successor. “We always have to look for the next guy and try to predict the value of putting that player in that position, because chances are a young defender won’t be playing for the Pittsburgh Steelers in 2021.”

But Colbert chose against the draft and groomed scenario favored by the Packers, 49ers and Chiefs. And the Steelers squeeze out one more playoff appearance.

The only flaw in the plan was that side fight that reminded everyone of Steelman’s pressing need. According to NextGenStats, Roethlisberger ended the third quarter with a negative 26-than-expected completion rate.

The sad performance is not unique to Roethlisberger. Can the sloppy Steelers, traumatized by Diontae Johnson’s reappearance problems with Harris’s distant drop-ins and defenses, do more to help him?

“You think?” Coach Mike Tomlin asked eloquently. “Yes!”

Tomlin choked on emotion at the end of Roethlisberger’s career: “I have no words.”

So now Steelers will be mentioned as a potential suitors for a Deshaun Watson or trading Russell Wilson. And a place for a freelance passenger to restart his career. And as a destination for the prospect of drafting a weak quarterback, the highlight is his ability to keep University of Pittsburgh star Kenny Pickett in the city.

It is not a comfortable place. Just ask the Saints, who started four quarterfinals and missed the playoffs one game in Year 1 behind Drew Brees. Or the Giants, who thought things were bad in Manning’s last few seasons until the other quarterbacks drew 13-32 over the past three seasons.

The Patriots were eliminated from the knockout stages on the same weekend as the Steelers. In the same humble fashion. At least they have Mac Jones to feel satisfied.