After defeating his childhood team on Monday night at Heinz Field in his home finale, Pittsburgh Steelers’ quarterback Ben Roethlisberger now prepares for one final shot at a longtime rival in the Baltimore Ravens, this time at M&T Bank Stadium inside the Charm City.
Roethlisberger has had a long history of success against the Ravens, and while appearing on the WDVE Morning Show on 102.5 in Pittsburgh Friday morning, Roethlisberger spent some time reminiscing on one of his favorite plays of his career.
On December 5, 2010, Roethlisberger and the Steelers traveled to Baltimore for a pivotal AFC North battle with first place on the line within the division.
After Hall of Fame safety Troy Polamalu forced one of his trademark fumbles on then-Ravens quarterback Joe Flacco, the Steelers were driving for the possible go-ahead touchdown.
Facing first and goal from the Baltimore nine-yard line, Roethlisberger quickly found himself under pressure from Ravens standout pass rusher and Steelers killer Terrell Suggs. Then, that turned into one of the greatest plays in Roethlisberger’s illustrious career.
It’s quite impressive that in the tremendous career of Roethlisberger, he holds so highly in his career an incompletion.
Roethlisberger somehow was able to fend off Suggs enough to throw the ball away for an incompletion, allowing the Steelers to live to fight another down. Two plays later, Roethlisberger found running back Isaac Redman for a touchdown with 2:51 left in the game from nine yards out, giving the Steelers the lead that they’d hold onto for a 13-10 win, putting Pittsburgh in first place in the AFC North.
Now, all these years later, the play stands out for Roethlisberger, not for the incompletion, but for who the play came against. Roethlisberger and Suggs have had some battles over the years, earning admiration and professional respect between the two. Now, Baltimore is bringing in Suggs as its Legend of the Game for the Sunday regular season finale.
Fitting.
“Yeah, it’s always gonna go in my top five or 10, just because, like you say, why,” Roethlisberger said during his morning radio appearance with WDVE. “But to me, that dude was, I mean, we had some epic battles. The teams had epic battles. He and I had some epic battles. He was such a good football a player. Fighting him off with one arm and then pitching it out of bounds with my left, I don’t know, I just think it just showed like my competitiveness and the will and desire and fight and never giving up…probably very boring for a lot of people. But for me, I think it’s just because of that, those battles between he and I just will always hold a special place for me.”
That play was many moons ago for Roethlisberger, who most certainly can’t do that now. But it’s a ton of fun to relive that play, that game, and the win, thanks to Roethlisberger’s heroics. It’s fitting that Roethlisberger will go out on his shield against the Ravens, a team he’s tormented and been through many physical battles with over the years.
