Thanks in large part to the fact that he has radically improved his play over the course of the past two and a half games, Pittsburgh Steelers quarterback Ben Roethlisberger is starting to be given a lot more attention. Beginning with the second half of the Colts game, he has thrown 10 touchdowns to two interceptions in the past 10 quarters. Not bad, I would say.
In fact, he has vaulted his way up the rankings for many, including Pro Football Focus, who now have him as the third-highest-graded quarterback in the NFL this season, behind only Tom Brady and Matt Ryan, and above the likes of Drew Brees, Carson Wentz, and Russell Wilson.
“Roethlisberger and the Steelers offense continues to roll”, they write, “as they spread the Packers defense out and picked them apart with throws all over the field. It was Roethlisberger’s highest grade of the season, as he made a number of big time throws down the field, and was accurate operating underneath”.
While he did throw two interceptions in that game—one of which came off of a pass that was batted in the air—it would be fair to say that the Packers game was his best of the season, I think, especially when you consider that his play in the first half against the Titans following the opening drive left much to be desired.
“The Packers tried to move the secondary around at the snap often and play coverage, blitzing on only four of his 49 dropbacks, but Roethlisberger consistently found the open man no matter the defensive look” the site went on, describing his most recent game.
“On the final drive, he was able to find Brown in the cover-2 hole between the corner and safety with Brown’s incredible sideline catch that set them up for a game-winning field goal. Roethlisberger has posted positive grades since his Week 5 disaster game vs the Jaguars, vaulting himself to number three in overall grades”.
You can, of course, take that for whatever it’s worth to you. If you have no respect for the site at all, then you will completely disregard it. If you don’t respect the site and yet believe Roethlisberger has played well, you might use it as support for your argument. If you don’t respect the site and also think he’s played poorly, then you will use it as evidence of how bad the site is.
Personally, I don’t need any outside confirmation that Roethlisberger has clearly been playing his best football of the season in recent weeks, which is pretty good timing, and needs to continue. With his improved play has also come improved situational numbers on third down and the red zone.
