Nov 10, 2018 6 min read

Ben Roethlisberger has played in 209 career regular-season games and 21 more in the postseason.

He’s obviously played in some bigger games than Thursday night’s 52-21 win over the Carolina Panthers, but he hasn’t played any better.

It was the fourth time in his career that Roethlisberger posted a perfect passer rating of 158.3. But in the other perfect games, he attempted 11, 16 and 20 passes. And all three of those games came in 2007 or before, when the idea was to have him throw early and allow the defense and running game to close things out.

His performance Thursday – 22 of 25 for 328 yards with five touchdowns and no interceptions – was all Roethlisberger. Yes, the Steelers ran the ball effectively. But he was locked in against a good defense.

Guard Ramon Foster, the elder statesman on the Steelers’ offensive line, was still in college at Tennessee the last time Roethlisberger posted a perfect passer rating.

“Yeah, I was. I was a young guy,” Foster said. “That’s awesome. Ben’s worked his butt off since before he came into camp. I don’t care if he’s playing ping-pong, basketball. That’s just what he does. When he’s on, we’re rolling.”

• It wasn’t all great news for the Steelers. Running back James Conner suffered a concussion.

The Steelers won’t practice again until Wednesday, but by then they might have another running back on the roster.

• Will Le’Veon Bell report and sign his franchise tag tender?

Only Bell knows. But he has returned to Pittsburgh, so that’s a positive sign. And for those people who don’t want Bell to do so: Conner’s backups Thursday night – Stevan Ridley and Jaylen Samuels – combined for 13 carries for 33 yards.

“We’ve got too many good players,” said no coach in any sport ever.

• Bell won’t be a distraction. The distraction has been not having him with the team.

Trust me on this, the players in that locker room will be glad when they’re not being peppered with questions about Bell.

• Conner has earned the right to continue to be the starting running back. But the Steelers can certainly find ways to use a talent such as Bell, whether it be the same way New Orleans utilizes Alvin Kamara and Mark Ingram, or even if it’s using Bell as a third-down back or to spell Conner.
• The Steelers are scoring a lot more in the red zone this year – 22 of 28 – and scored on all four of their trips Thursday night. They were 32-of-63 last season.

Some people are saying Conner is the reason why. But that’s simplifying things greatly.

The biggest difference is new offensive coordinator Randy Fichtner and his commitment to the run when the Steelers get closer to the goal line.

Conner has scored seven times on 11 carries from inside the 5-yard line in nine games. Bell got six rushing attempts inside the 5 all of last season. He scored on all six.

For whatever reason, former offensive coordinator Todd Haley got too tricky the closer the Steelers were to the end zone instead of just lining up and running the ball with the best offensive line in the NFL.

Perhaps he became overly reliant on Bell’s ability to catch the ball. Bell had 23 carries from inside the 5 in his first two seasons. The last three years, he had only 14 such attempts. He scored on 11 of the 14.

This week’s picks

Atlanta minus 6 over Cleveland: Gregg Williams was the defensive coordinator of the Browns. Now, he’s the head coach. And Cleveland’s defense, while opportunistic, has been bad. That was before the Browns had a rash of injuries in their secondary. Matt Ryan has been on a roll and Atlanta’s defense has recovered from the numerous injuries it suffered through early in the season. The Falcons should score at will in a 34-21 victory.

New Orleans minus 6 over Cincinnati: The Bengals’ defense has allowed at least 450 yards in each of their past three games and is now on pace to break the NFL record for most yards allowed in a season. The Saints are coming off an emotional win over the Rams last week and could have a letdown, but A.J. Green won’t play for the Bengals. That doesn’t bode well for Cincinnati, as the Saints should win, 31-23

Tennessee plus 7½ over New England: The Titans have a stingy defense, and as long as they protect Marcus Mariota better than they did a few weeks ago in a loss against Baltimore, when they allowed 11 sacks. This should be closer than a touchdown. Titans head coach Mike Vrabel knows Bill Belichick’s defense inside out. The Titans probably don’t have the horses to win, but they can muck things up enough to keep it close in a 24-20 win by the Patriots.

Kansas City minus 16½ over Arizona: Surprisingly enough, the Cardinals have the seventh-rated pass defense in the league, so they might be able to keep the Chiefs under 40 points. But rookie Josh Rosen is going to have a difficult time putting up enough points at Arrowhead Stadium to keep this under even this huge number. Look for a big Kareem Hunt day in a 34-16 Kansas City win.

Dallas plus 7 over Philadelphia: The Eagles have turned things around and should win. But the Dallas defense is tough and should keep this one within reach. The Eagles also have no running game, which plays into Dallas’ strength, which is its pass defense. It will be close but the Eagles will pull out a 23-20 win.