Lost in the Pittsburgh Steelers up and down 2013 season is the fact that quarterback Ben Roethlisberger is quietly putting together a franchise passing record year.
With 3,118 passing yards so far on the season, Roethlisberger has totaled the most passing yards by a Steelers player in the team’s first 11 games (dating back to 1960). With five games now left, he needs only 1,211 yards passing to surpass his single-season record of 4,328 yards that he set in 2009. That breaks down to an average of 243 passing yards a game which is very obtainable as long as he stays healthy.
Thanks to his two touchdown performance Sunday in the win over the Cleveland Browns, Roethlisberger now only needs three more touchdown passes to break the Steelers all-time regular-season touchdown pass record of 212, which of course is held by Terry Bradshaw. If he doesn’t break the record Thursday night against the Baltimore Ravens, odds are good that he will when the Steelers return home the following week to host the Miami Dolphins.
Also, with just one more touchdown pass, Roethlisberger will have 20 on the season, which would make him the first quarterback in franchise history to throw for at least 20 touchdowns in a regular season five times.
Here is one more final little nugget for you. This past Sunday, Roethlisberger passed Troy Aikman on the all-time passing yardage list and he now sits ranked 28th overall. Should he pass for 163 yards or more Thursday night against the Ravens, he will not only pass the great Y.A. Tittle on the all-time list, but Steve Young as well. In case you need reminding, Aikman, Tittle and Young are all in the Pro Football Hall of Fame.
