Just how good was the game that Pittsburgh Steelers quarterback Ben Roethlisberger played Sunday against the San Francisco 49ers from a statistical perspective? You probably won’t be very surprised if you saw the game.
According to Steelers PR/Media Manager Dom Rinelli, Roethlisberger’s 155.8 QB rating yesterday tied him with Peyton Manning (7) for the second-most most 150.0 quarterback rating games in NFL history.
While Roethlisberger did just miss having a perfect 158.3 rating on Sunday, he has accomplished that feat three times in his career already. However, it should be noted that in those three games that he never attempted more than 20 passes in any one of them. Sunday against the 49ers, he attempted 27 passes.
Additionally, Roethlisberger’s Sunday performance marked just the eleventh time in NFL history that a quarterback has registered a 155.8 rating on 27 or more passing attempts. Strangely enough there is another former Steelers quarterback that had a better game based on that criteria and that was Bubby Brister, who recorded a 156.2 passer rating against the Denver Broncos in 1990. Brister threw for 353 yards and four touchdowns in that 34-17 Steelers win, according to Pro Football Reference.
There was also something else that stood out Sunday in Roethlisberger’s performance. According to ESPN.com, Roethlisberger was 5-of-6 for 239 yards and a touchdown against the 49ers on throws more than 30 yards downfield. That was the most such completions in a game in the last 10 seasons. The site goes on to say that New Orleans Saints quarterback Drew Brees is the only other player to have 4 completions more than 30 yards downfield in a game (Week 4 of 2008, also against the 49ers).
Stats will not always tell the entire story but in the case of Roethlisberger’s Sunday performance they certainly were right on the mark just like most of the quarterback’s deep passes in the game.
