It’s hard for Ben Roethlisberger to surprise anyone for his toughness. Not you, not me, and not Mike Tomlin. There is a toughness about him that is impossible to describe.
That aside, Tomlin credited running more of the no-huddle offense as a way to create comfort for Roethlisberger.
“We operated out of no huddle a little bit and brought the game to him,” Tomlin said of Big Ben after the game. “It’s less gameplan specific and more Football 101.”
As Dave Bryan wrote earlier, Tomlin decided to start Landry Jones because of his familiarity with the gameplan set up for the Cleveland Browns whereas Roethlisberger spent most of the week rehabbing his foot sprain suffered last Sunday against the Oakland Raiders.
The Steelers were able to pick apart a Browns’ secondary missing two starters and lacking any semblance of depth. He routinely went after Charles Gaines and Pierre Desir while Antonio Brown burned Johnson Bademosi for Roethlisberger’s final touchdown of the day. It’s not sandlot football but that more passive, make-it-up-as-you-go-along style has always suited Big Ben just fine.
It showed today. Roethlisberger finished the afternoon with 379 yards passing and three touchdowns. He will get a much needed bye week to rest and hopefully come close to fully recovering. The Steelers take on the Seattle Seahawks in Week 12.
