The overall conclusion surely won’t be a shock to Steelers Nation but I wanted to put the numbers to the idea: it’s remarkable how much better protected Ben Roethlisberger has been during the final years of his career. That’s thanks to multiple factors: the evolution of his game, a much better offensive line, an offensive coordinators that better managed that number.
I know I’m probably jinxing him for like, 27 sacks today, but I wanted to take a quick look at just how far Big Ben has come. Here are the sack totals after every five years of Roethlisberger’s career.
2004-2008
1. Ben Roethlisberger – 192
2. Marc Bulger – 191
3. David Carr – 172
4. Matt Hasselbeck – 140
5. Donovan McNabb – 139
2009-2013
1. Ben Roethlisberger – 194
2. Joe Flacco – 190
3. Aaron Rodgers – 189
4. Philip Rivers – 172
5. Jay Cutler – 167
2014-2018
1. Russell Wilson – 177
2. Matthew Stafford – 173
3. Blake Bortles – 165
4. Alex Smith – 156
5. Cam Newton – 145
T-21st. Ben Roethlisberger – 95
For the first ten years of his career, no quarterback was sacked more than Big Ben. Over the last five, only one quarterback with at least 50 starts – Derek Carr – has been sacked less.
It’s an incredible turnaround, one that no doubt has allowed Roethlisberger to play to this stage of his career, feel healthy doing it, and make the idea of him playing another five years at least plausible.
It’s also allowed the Steelers to keep their Super Bowl window open. There’s no debate that window shuts, for at least some time, whenever #7 finally hangs them up.
Big credit to those involved. Roethlisberger for making the change, becoming more of a pocket passer than backyard kid, the front offense for identifying top talent up front, and coordinators for making it all work.
