Ben Roethlisberger took a pretty hefty shot to the chest courtesy of Courtney Upshaw last Thursday. Another thing that happened last Thursday: Ben looked bad. His throws were off target and he didn’t have the same command of the offense we’re used to seeing from him. Those two things might be related.
Roethlisberger disclosed this week that he has been in more pain in the last few days than he was at any point in the past year, likely stemming from taking a several-hundred-pound defender to the sternum during a football game.
On one hand, we’re lucky Ben hasn’t been announced to have multiple broken ribs or anything; that would be catastrophic. On the other hand, if Ben Roethlisberger is operating anywhere below 100%, the Steelers are not going anywhere. With the defense in its current state, the team needs to rely on the offense to do the winning. If Ben Roethlisberger, the absolute linchpin of the offense, falters even slightly this year…
You might as well pre-order that Marcus Mariota jersey.
And that makes Ben’s lack of a contract extension all the more interesting.
