Bill Polian has been around the NFL for quite some time and has seen his share of a quarterback play both good and bad over the years. During a Thursday morning segment on SiriusXM NFL Radio, Polian praised the performance that Pittsburgh Steelers quarterback Ben Roethlisberger put on Sunday in London in the loss to the Minnesota Vikings.
“Ben Roethlisberger put on the greatest single individual display, south of Peyton Manning and Tom Brady and Drew Brees, that I have seen in a long time, maybe in my entire career. I mean he was just phenomenal,” said Polian. “He avoided or shrugged off at least four sacks. He made plays down the field that were unbelievable. He was under duress all night from snap one.”
Despite being sacked five times in the game, Roethlisberger completed 36-of-51 passes in the game for 383 yards and a touchdown. In addition, he had the offense just six yards away from tying the game with 19 seconds left before succumbing to the final sack that thwarted the comeback.
“The fact that they were one play away from tying the game tells you a heck of a lot about his competitiveness and his toughness, and his ability to make plays,” Polian added.
Polian really isn’t telling Steelers fans anything new as it relates to Roethlisberger, but he did share his thoughts on rookie running back Le’Veon Bell during the interview and they were good ones.
“On a positive side, the young running back from Michigan State came in and did awfully well, and really gives them hope for the future,” the former NFL team president and general manager said. “He’s a lot better than I thought he was looking at him on film. I had not seen him live last year – saw him as an underclassmen live, but I hadn’t seen him live last year.
“He’s got good feet and good vision, and great finish, and great size. He’s going to be the kind of back that they want.”
In addition to praising both Roethlisberger and Bell, Polian was critical of the Steelers offensive line during the interview and said that it is in “shambles” right now, and that left tackle Mike Adams couldn’t block anybody from the start.
You can hear all of Polian’s thoughts on the Steelers in the audio below.
