Something about playing the Philadelphia Eagles on the road spells bad news for Pittsburgh Steelers quarterbacks. Sunday, Kenny Pickett was hit 11 times, including six sacks, as the Steelers were routed on the road. A game reminiscent of what happened in 2008, another ugly defeat, and one of the most brutal games of Ben Roethlisberger’s career.
On his latest episode of Footbalhin’, Ben Roethlisberger compared his 2008 experience with what he witnessed yesterday.
“It kind of turned into one of those days where they just were kind of getting after it,” Roethlisberger said. “And it reminded me, and I think it was 2008 we played in Philadelphia…I got sacked eight or nine times. Which is unheard of.”
In that ’08 game, as Roethlisberger mentions, he was dropped eight times while the team was sacked a total of nine times. It was one of the Steelers’ worst pass protection showings as they lost to the Eagles 15-6, a game that didn’t feel nearly as close as the score might’ve suggested. The only time in his career he was sacked more came in 2006 when the Baltimore Ravens dropped him nine times. Years later, then-offensive line coach Larry Zierlein broke down how late Eagles’ DC Jim Johnson broke the Steelers’ pass protection with a scheme Pittsburgh had no answers for, leading to a barrage of pressure.
Roethlisberger referenced one of the hardest hits Pickett took, one early in the game that led to the Eagles’ first sack of the game, a T/E stunt with the RDE twisting inside and having a free shot on Pickett.
In that ’08 loss, Roethlisberger said his body was so beat up, he wasn’t sure if he wanted to keep playing football, and instead of going home, went to see teammate Brett Keisel.
“I remember going over to his house and we had a couple of beers and sitting down there and being like, I’m so sore. So beat up…I told him like, ‘I don’t even know if I wanna play football anymore.'”
Of course, Roethlisberger kept his career going and the Steelers had far brighter days that season, going on to beat the Arizona Cardinals for Pittsburgh’s sixth Super Bowl. The Steelers won’t have such luck this year. But Pickett and Roethlisberger can share the commonality of being roughed up by a talented and overwhelming Eagles’ front, who got a lead and pinned their ears back the rest of the game.
Check out the whole episode below.
