Prior to the Pittsburgh Steelers Sunday home game against the Cincinnati Bengals, I presented the narrative that quarterback Ben Roethlisberger hadn’t played well in his first games back from injuries during his career. Roethlisberger then proceeded to go out and have another clunker against the Bengals as he completed 28 of his 45 passes for 262 yards with 1 touchdown and 3 interceptions.
So, how well has Roethlisberger played in his second games back from injuries during his career? I’m sad to report not very good at all on average.
For starters, in those six second games back from injuries that Roethlisberger has played in, which includes the 2011 Wild Card game against the Denver Broncos, he is 1-5 with his lone win coming in 2005 against the Baltimore Ravens. Additionally, while his average passing yards per game in those second games back is 74.9 yards better than his average yards passing per game in his six first games back from injuries, his completion percentage is 1.5% lower. If that’s not enough to scare you, Roethlisberger has averaged slightly more interceptions than touchdown passes in his previous six second games back from injuries.
Now, for what’s worth, it should be noted that the Steelers opponents averaged 25.7 points per game in those previous 6 games.
This coming Sunday, the Steelers will host the Oakland Raiders and their defense has allowed an average of 312.6 passing yards per game in addition to nearly 2 touchdown passes per game. Additionally, they’re only sacking opposing quarterbacks twice a game on average.
For the Steelers sake, hopefully Roethlisberger can put and end to this narrative Sunday at Heinz Field as the team really needs to win this game being as the Raiders are one of several teams they’re currently battling for a Wild Card spot.
Roethlisberger Career Passing Stats In Second Games Back From Injury
| YEAR | WK | OPP | RESULT | COMP | ATT | PCT | YDS | AVG | TD | INT | SCK | RATE |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2005 | 13 | CIN | L 31-38 | 29 | 41 | 70.7% | 386 | 9.4 | 3 | 3 | 2 | 94.2 |
| 2012 | 15 | @DAL | L 24-27 | 24 | 40 | 60.0% | 339 | 8.5 | 2 | 1 | 4 | 93.6 |
| 2011 | WC | @DEN | L 23-29 | 22 | 40 | 55.0% | 289 | 7.2 | 1 | 1 | 5 | 75.9 |
| 2006 | 3 | CIN | L 20-28 | 18 | 39 | 46.2% | 208 | 5.3 | 0 | 3 | 3 | 30.7 |
| 2009 | 14 | @CLE | L 6-13 | 18 | 32 | 56.3% | 201 | 6.3 | 0 | 0 | 8 | 75.1 |
| 2005 | 8 | BAL | W 20-19 | 18 | 30 | 60.0% | 177 | 5.9 | 2 | 1 | 2 | 85.0 |
| TOTALS | 129 | 222 | 58.1% | 1600 | 7.2 | 8 | 9 | 24 | 75.7 | |||
| AVG | 21.5 | 37 | 58.1% | 266.7 | 7.2 | 1.3 | 1.5 | 4.0 | 75.7 | |||
