Dec 31, 2015 4 min read

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Ben Roethlisberger returned to practice Thursday after being MIA Wednesday because of a head cold. That would explain a lot about his performance Sunday.

Roethlisberger played like a guy who had a foggy head.

Of course, Roethlisberger didn’t want to talk about anything that happened last week against Baltimore. That’s understandable on many levels, most notably because the Steelers have a game coming up Sunday they need to win.

I’ve taken some flak for ripping the quarterback’s performance last week. But it is warranted, just as it is when he gets the credit for playing well or when the Steelers are winning.

Quarterback is the most important position in any sport. Typically, if your quarterback plays poorly, you lose. If he plays well, you win. There aren’t many positions that have that kind of sway on games.

A pitcher in baseball or goalie in hockey would be the only things that come close. But if they’re having a bad day, you can pull them and go to the next guy.

That doesn’t happen with franchise quarterbacks.

@ If the Steelers win Sunday, it will guarantee that a 10-win team will miss the playoffs.

It will be the first time that will have happened to the Steelers. But since the NFL went to a 16-game schedule in 1978, 21 teams have gone 10-6 or better and not made the playoffs. And two of those teams went 11-5 and didn’t make it.

But save me the “Steelers don’t deserve to make the playoffs” garbage. If they get in, they deserve to be there. If they don’t, they didn’t.

@ Bud Dupree was named the Steelers Joe Greene Great Performance winner as the team’s rookie of the year.

But there was really nobody else to vote for.

Jesse James has really be the only other rookie who has gotten any serious playing time. And he just has a handful of catches.

Dupree has four sacks this season, but none since Week 8.

Earlier this year, I was prepared to eat my words when I questioned the pick of a player who wouldn’t help this team win this season. But as it turns out, I wasn’t off on my assessment.

Dupree might still turn into a player. But he’s not done a lot this year to help this team.

It wasn’t as bad as the year we had to vote Patrick Bailey, a special teams performer, as the award winner, but it wasn’t like picking Roethlisberger, either.

I will say that there were plenty of people wondering about the pick of Troy Polamalu in 2003. And we know what he did.

@ So Johnny Manziel is out and Austin Davis is in for the Browns this weekend.

Just so you know, Davis’ career high for passing yards is 375 last season in a game against Dallas in which he also had three TD passes in a 34-28 loss.

@ Vince Williams said he talked to his brother, Buffalo running back Karlos Williams, and the Bills really want a victory this weekend.

They don’t want to end the season on a loss. They’d like to finish 8-8. And they know the game is important to Bills head coach Rex Ryan against his former team.

I don’t know if that will be enough for the Bills to win. But they will be motivated.

@ Funny thing about this week, the preparation has been the same as it was last week. And that prep was the same as the week before.

In fact, it hasn’t changed all season.