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Lolley
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Is Ben Roethlisberger done?
Only he really knows. And he doesn’t think so at this point.
“I guess you’ll just feel fatigued,” Roethlisberger said earlier this week when asked when he would know he was done. “You’ll feel that you can’t make the throw or something. I don’t know. I guess that’s the best answer I can give you is you’ll feel it. I haven’t felt that yet, so I guess that’s a positive as well.”
So, is Roethlisberger done?
The same questions were being asked of his counterpart in Sunday’s game, Phillip Rivers, last season.
Rivers, who is a year older than Roethlisberger, threw 23 touchdown passes and 20 interceptions last season for the Chargers. They decided to move on.
Heading into this weekend, Rivers has thrown 22 touchdown passes and just nine interceptions for the Colts, who signed him in the offseason.
Roethlisberger has not played well the past few games, certainly not up to the level of his play earlier in the season. But he has still thrown 30 touchdown passes against 10 interceptions this season through 14 games.
Fact is, you can look at nearly any 38-year-old quarterback who is still playing and find stretches where they didn’t play as well. Most often, that comes later in the year when the weather turns and their bodies begin to feel the rigors of playing football over a three month stretch.
Roethlisberger’s deep passing game hasn’t been good this season, but he’s been winning games with his mind, manipulating defenses and getting the ball to the right player.
He can still do that. But his teammates can’t drop or fumble passes, can’t miss blocks and can’t take penalties. And even at that, he has to play better than he did last Monday night against the Bengals.
He knows it. The Steelers know it.
• I fully expect Roethlisberger to be back in 2021. He has said all along he intends to play out his contract and nothing at this point is changing that.
In fact, the Steelers might want to extend him another year, if to at least lower his $41.25 million salary cap hit in 2021.
That cap hit isn’t Roethlisberger’s fault. His salary and a roster bonus count for only $19 million of that total. But the Steelers’ decision to renegotiate his deal in the spring to create some cap space raised his cap hit next year nearly $10 million.
That was their decision.
• JuJu Smith-Schuster’s dancing on the opposing team’s logo at midfield was silly. And childish. But quite frankly, who cares?
Players do a lot of childish and silly things. You see many people in your workplace doing choreographed dances when they accomplish a task?
“Hey Bob, way to get that report filed, woot, woot. Let’s dance.”
Smith-Schuster had been doing it for weeks, and nobody noticed until the Steelers started losing.
At that point, Smith-Schuster’s dancing on the opposing team’s logo had become a distraction, especially during a three-game losing streak. And that’s why it had to stop.
This Week’s Picks
Steelers (plus 1 ½) over Colts: You can’t turn the ball over three times in your own end of the field and beat, well, anyone in the NFL. And that’s what happened to the Steelers last week. That’s especially true when you don’t force any turnovers of your own. The Steelers have forced 25 turnovers this season, but failed to get one last week. The guess here is that they’ll get back to taking the ball away in this one. And we’ll take an 11-3 team getting points at home. Take the Steelers 23-20
Browns (minus 9 ½) over Jets: The Jets won their game for the season last week, upsetting the Rams. The Browns did have a bit of a letdown against the Giants last week, but the Giants were missing so many players, they couldn’t put up much of a fight in a 20-6 loss. Cleveland moves a step closer to clinching a playoff berth with a win here. Take the Browns, 30-17
Giants (plus 10 ½) against Ravens: The Giants will get QB Daniel Jones back and the secondary should be more healthy. They also are pretty good against the run, which is really all the Ravens do. The Ravens should win this game, but 10 ½ points is just too much to give. Take the Giants to cover in a 27-20 loss
Packers (minus 3) over Titans: This should be an entertaining game that goes up and down the field. Neither team has much defense. The Titans are the worst pass rushing team in the league, however. They also have one of the worst special teams units in the league. And those things will bite them in this game. Take the Packers, 38-31
Bills (minus 7) over Patriots: The Bills have already clinched the division title and the Patriots have been eliminated from the postseason, but Buffalo owes New England a little something for years of beatings. One game won’t erase 20-plus years of beatings, but it sure won’t hurt. Take the Bills, 31-13
Last Week: 0-4-1 ATS, Overall: 36-34-5
Dale Lolley covers the Steelers for DKPittsburghSports.com and writes a Sunday column for the Observer-Reporter.