by Bo Marchionte
One year ago, in Indianapolis, Kevin Colbert was addressing the media about Le’Veon Bell and Antonio Brown. Two prolific offensive weapons that helped the Steelers offense reach very lofty heights.
This year, Colbert was talking about the future of their franchise quarterback Ben Roethlisberger. The 37-yard old veteran of 16 seasons in the National Football League, played only six quarters of football last year, after injuring his elbow.
“The thing that is exciting about this is we might have a better Ben Roethlisberger coming out of this surgery,” Colbert said when addressing the media at the NFL Combine. Roethlisberger was coming off a 2018 campaign with a staggering 5,129 passing yards that places him seventh all-time in NFL history, in the single-season category.
Colbert focused on the other areas that may help Roethlisberger who turns 38-years old on March 2nd.
“He sat for a year. He didn’t have wear and tear on his body for a year,” said Colbert.
“Sure, he had a significant surgery but we’re optimistic he might be better.”
That is a fair enough assessment.
In 2019, we had a limited amount of time to know how Roethlisberger would do without having Bell and Brown. He had the lowest passer rating (66.5), since 2006, when he and the Steelers managed an 8-8 record after winning the Super Bowl, in 2005.
Pittsburgh scored 10-points last year with Roethlisberger under center. Not exactly flattering statistics, but he remains the absolute best option on the roster for the Steelers to get back to the playoffs.
His injury and the injuries of James Conner and Juju Smith-Schuster crippled the Steelers offense. The threesome (behave) compiled 24 games lost to injury. The skeleton arsenal left Pittsburgh with little opportunity to create points.
The silver lining is it allowed others to gain valued experience and learn the system of third-year offensive coordinator Randy Fichtner.
Three rookies, that included Delvin Hodges, Benny Snell and Diontae Johnson combined to make 20 starts for a team that would finish 27th in points score. The last time they finished lower was, in 1998. That offense featured Kordell Stewart and Hall of Fame running back Jerome Bettis.
Pittsburgh remains a contender if Roethlisberger can manage to stay on the field this year. The pieces are in place (barring injury) to be a formidable opponent for anyone in the league, especially the with the success of their defense.
“I think with a guy like Ben you got to be careful to hold him back a little bit,” said Colbert about his two-time Super Bowl champion quarterback. “If he progresses a little too aggressively because got to make sure he is ready for September.”
Roethlisberger being ready for Week 1 of the 2020 season would be a huge boost to get Pittsburgh back to the playoffs.
The two-year absence is not the culture that coincides with how the Steelers operate.
Photo Credit Frank Hyatt