Home Player Spotlight Roethlisberger Out 4-6 Weeks

Roethlisberger Out 4-6 Weeks

by Steeldad

After initially hearing that Steelers’ Quarterback Ben Roethlisberger may have even been available on Sunday following a very small procedure on his left knee, ESPN’s Chris Mortensen is reporting that Big Ben is likely to miss the next four to six weeks of the 2016 season.

With the BYE week coming up following the New England game, that means Roethlisberger would likely miss games at Baltimore, home against Dallas and at Cleveland. He could then return as early as the Thanskgiving Day game against Indianapolis.

The Steelers have done remarkably well without Roethlisberger during his time in Pittsburgh with a record of just slightly over the .500 mark. If we assume the Steelers lose the next three games (I’m just being realistic here folks), then that puts the team at 4-5 heading into the game against the Colts.

With the AFC North not exactly a juggernaut this year, I don’t think it is out of the realm of possibilities for the Steelers to be just fine in terms of still earning a playoff berth. That said, it appears likely that those three final games, all against divisional opponents could ultimately decide the fate of this team.

What is also an important thing to note is this is yet another opportunity to wonder what might have been. Our ‘Killer B’s’ have been on the field together so rarely that we will likely never know just how good and how far this team may have gone. Whether by injury or by poor choices the full potential of this offense will likely never be seen. That’s depressing on a number of levels.

I suspect we will get some type of update from the Steelers or Mike Tomlin in the coming hours or days so stay tuned. Either way, this season isn’t over yet. Long way to go!

Photo courtesy abc10.com

 

You may also like

7 comments

Vittorio October 19, 2016 - 6:54 pm

Oh sure you say the Steelers have done well without Ben but how do you beat the Pats, Ravens and Cowboys with no Big Ben? I’m sick of everyone trying to think positively about this situation and apparently I’m the only guy who is going to tell you the honest truth. The Steelers are doomed.
Say they end up with a 9-7 or 10-6 record how exactly would they fare in the playoffs or for that matter even make it to the playoffs? You know I got heat for defending Jarvis Jones and bashing Wheaton but now I’ve the “ammunition” to fire back at you numbskulls.
You all raved about the Artie Burns and Javon Hargrave picks but I ask you what exactly have they done at this point of the season to make you guys believe they can be anything more than wasted picks of players?
You all like the nickname of Hargrave “Gravedigger” well guess what his nickname fits cause they only thing he has done these first 6 games is dig his own grave of being a bust in the NFL. The same thing goes for Burns as well. You all went after me for saying the Steelers needed DL help by basking in the joy of Hargrave well I ask you fans and experts of Steel City Blitz:
Do you still feel the same way or would you like to change your tune about taking a DL in the 1st round. I told you there were better options at CB in the middle rounds but no you all wanted Burns so now you all can rot with Burns as a lousy CB.

steeldad October 19, 2016 - 7:21 pm

Hi Vic, this is the head numskull. So would you prefer we cried and bitched that we may not have Ben for the next several games? What good would that do? The realistic approach here is that this team is in trouble over the span in which Ben is scheduled to be out. Can’t deny that. That doesn’t mean I’m going to dwell on the negativity. It does no good to do such a thing.

As for Hargrave and Burns… You are using the term ‘bust’ to describe two rookies who have played a grand total of six games. Six. Not a full season, not even half of a season. Six. If in three years, neither one of these guys is contributing to this team then you can spout your ‘bust’ rhetoric all you like. Burns is making rookie mistakes and Hargrave has played much better than people, like yourself, have given him credit for. John Mitchell does not coach his interior defensive linemen to be sack artists. They have responsibilities that don’t always add up on a stat sheet.

Furthermore, we were not on the “we all wanted Burns” wagon as you suggest. Because the Steelers chose him, we only have that to work with and because his success means team success we support him. That does not mean he was our first choice. That’s a clear distinction you continue to miss. Anyway, thanks as always for commenting and if you noticed in my opening, the correct spelling is “numskull.” You should drop the ‘b’ next time.

Vittorio October 19, 2016 - 8:56 pm

I got flack time and again on this site for defending Jarvis Jones and bashing Wheaton so now I’m just doing what everybody else has done to me in the past. John Mitchell was the reason Hargrave got picked and low and behold most of the public liked the choice and you were the one who pointed out that DL don’t sack the QB, not me.
I wanted a DL who could actually push the pocket not stand around looking like an idiot. This past Sunday between Hargrave and McCullers, McCullers was the only between the 2 that made a play.
You want to know why the season is doomed it’s simple and there a number of people in Steeler nation who would agree with me that it’s Landry Jones. The guy is basically the Steeler version of Alex Smith. At least if Mettenberger played the Steelers would have a chance in these next few games but hey if there are people foolish enough to believe Jones can steady the ship by all means go ahead and roll with that theory anytime you want.
The Steelers drafted a Press CB for a zone concept explain to me how that is supposed to work with this defense? 6 games and yet all Hargrave and Burns do is make mistakes and i ask you have either of those 2 guys learned anything from there mistakes? Eventually you get tired of hearing “there making rookie mistakes” and you just want results.
You and everybody on this site knows the Pats are going to blow the Steelers out on Sunday so why should anybody watch this game? I’ve already seen enough of Jones to realize there screwed.
Then you have the Ravens who beat the Steelers the last time a backup QB played for the Steelers. In that game the D came to play as they got pressure on Flacco and sacked him not mention they got a INT and yet it wasn’t enough, so I ask you even if Ben plays how likely is it that they could pull of a win in Baltimore? I know your going to respond to this steeldad and you should cause I have tried to be patient with Hargrave and Burns but honestly why bother anymore if people got fed up with Jarvis Jones after 1 season why can’t I get fed up with these 2 rookies?

Ben Anderson October 20, 2016 - 1:07 am

Interesting take, Vic. Any other areas of the team you feel could have used improvement? What would you have done differently if you were running the team?

Vittorio October 20, 2016 - 1:22 am

Yes knowing that the weakness of the D was probably going to be the secondary I would have waited until the mid rounds of the draft to pick 1 or 2 guys. The strength of this team was always going to be the front 7 but GM Kevin Colbert decided to put all his faith in someone like Riccardo Matthews in case Heyward or Tuitt got hurt.
I still to this day have no idea why he didn’t pick more DL when it was clear it was deep draft class but he ignored those guys in favor of Javon Freaking Hargrave. It’s simple, you can’t fix the unfixable. The unfixable part of this team is the secondary and the only thing you can do to it is make it more respectable.

Ben Anderson October 20, 2016 - 9:44 pm

Hmm,.. That’s odd. Most people seem to think the defense’s biggest issue is the pass rush, in particular the outside linebackers.
Basically what you’ve said here is:
1) The weakness of the defense is the defensive backfield. That being the case you would have waited until the middle rounds to address it.
2) The strength of the team was always going to be the front 7. That being the case you would have loaded up on D linemen in the early rounds in order to strengthen a unit that was already stronger than the defensive backfield.
3) You would have taken this approach because the defensive backfield is so bad that it cannot be fixed anyway and the only possibility of improvement is “make it more respectable”, which you would have attempted to do with middle round picks, as the Steelers have tried to do for almost a decade now with marginal, but mainly bad, results.

OK.
Mr. DiStazio,
“What you have written here….
..is one of the most insanely idiotic things I have ever heard.
At no point, in your rambling incoherent response, were you even close to anything that could be considered a rational thought.
Everyone who reads this comment will be dumber for having done so.
I award you no points, and may God have mercy on your soul.”

A simple “wrong” just wasn’t enough in this instance.

1) you don’t judge rookies off of 6 games. That is doubly true when said rookies aren’t even on the field 50% of the time.
2) Billings (Bengals), Tapper (Cowboys) and Ridgeway (Colts), the three DTs you wanted pre-draft, have done little to nothing as pros. All lasted until the 3rd day because they were seen either as 2 down players (Billings, Tapper) or projects with stamina and injury issues (Ridgeway).
Ridgeway, the lone player of the three to see playing time, is a part of the Colts terrible defense, playing 33% of their snaps to date. He has 2 tackles and a half a sack.
?3) Hargrave and Burns are far from finshed products.? But, both are oustanding athletes who have both flashed ability. That’s more than can be said of the D linemen you’ve touted.
Last: again, doing what you suggest and using mid round picks on DBs is what the Steelers have been doing for ten years and look at where it’s gotten them.

Cheer up, man. Try to be at least a little more positive and look for reasons why the PROFESSIONALS who run your favorite team do things instead of looking for ways to criticize them. You’ll end up happier for it.

bob graff October 20, 2016 - 12:43 pm

I see us going 1-2 in the 3 games i feel Ben will miss. Keeping the faith is a must, there needs to be some patience. At the same time Ben gets back i expect to see Dupree, Green,Heyward,Shazier and Wheaton all back and at full strength I expect to see a very formidable team by week 10 or 11 so i am going to stay positive and root for the best dam team in sports.

Leave a Comment

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.