As the United States celebrate its independence on the 4th of July with cookouts, great summer weather and fireworks, I thought it would be a great time to relive a rather historic display of offensive fireworks from the Pittsburgh Steelers during the 2014 season.
Back in 2014, the Steelers and the Killer B’s — Ben Roethlisberger, Le’Veon Bell, Antonio Brown and Martavis Bryant — were at the height of their powers as an explosive foursome of offensive weapons. That culminated in the two-week display in the 2014 season from Roethlisberger’s right arm that lit up NFL defenses like, well, the 4th of July.
Let’s flash back to that historic two-week stretch against the Indianapolis Colts and the Baltimore Ravens and look at the 12 touchdowns Roethlisberger threw in the two-week span, placing himself in the NFL record books.
Week 8, 2014 — Steelers 51, Colts 34 — Ben Roethlisberger stats: 40-of-49 passing, 522 passing yards, six touchdowns
Wearing the 1934 throwback bumblebee jerseys, the Steelers were buzzing early against the Colts and never looked back. It was arguably the finest game of Roethlisberger’s Hall of Fame career, and he did it in front of the home crowd at then-Heinz Field.
Pittsburgh trailed 3-0 early after a 31-yard field goal from Adam Vinatieri, but then Roethlisberger took over. The big, strong gunslinger started his historic day with an 18-yard touchdown pass to wide receiver Markus Wheaton off a pump fake, fitting the ball into Wheaton’s hands just inside the front left pylon of the end zone, giving the Steelers an early 7-3 lead.
Pittsburgh’s defense then got a three-and-out, giving the ball right back to Roethlisberger.
A big 26-yard completion to little-used wide receiver Lance Moore eventually set up the Steelers for another score. This time, Roethlisberger fired a strike to Bryant in the end zone from 5 yards out, making it a 14-3 game.
Some very interesting coverage techniques there from the Colts’ defensive backs, making it a rather easy pitch and catch from Roethlisberger to Bryant for the score.
Two plays after the touchdown pass to Bryant, Steelers cornerback William Gay picked off Indianapolis quarterback Andrew Luck, returning it 33 yards for a pick-6 and a 21-3 Steelers lead.
Indianapolis bounced back with a 21-yard touchdown from Luck to tight end Dwayne Allen to make it a 21-10 game. Then, the Colts seemingly held defensively, forcing the Steelers to settle for a 30-yard field goal from Shaun Suisham, but an offsides penalty on the field goal try gave the Steelers new life.
Roethlisberger took advantage, hitting Antonio Brown for a spectacular 8-yard touchdown pass with Brown pulling the ball in with one hand while getting two feet down for the score.
Up 28-10, the Steelers turned it on. Pittsburgh forced a quick three-and-out by the Colts, getting the football right back to the Roethlisberger-led offense that couldn’t be stopped.
Three plays later, Roethlisberger had a vintage display of his backyard style of football, hitting Brown in stride for a 47-yard touchdown and a massive 35-10 lead.
Roethlisberger was 10 years into his career at this point and certainly wasn’t the most athletic guy anymore, but man it remains special to see what he could do after the snap when he improvised on broken plays, often making splash plays down the field, like this play to Brown for the score.
Indianapolis rebounded in strong fashion to close the first half as Luck found wide receiver T.Y. Hilton for a 28-yard touchdown and Vinatieri added a 23-yard field goal to make it 35-20 at the half. But coming out of the break, the Colts still had no answers defensively.
A 49-yard pass from Roethlisberger to tight end Heath Miller set up a 2-yard touchdown pass from Roethlisberger to Bryant on a fade route, making it a 42-20 game.
After that score from Bryant though, the Steelers’ offense seemed to run out of gas a bit.
That allowed the Colts to get back into the game as Luck hit running back Ahmad Bradshaw for a 12-yard touchdown and then wide receiver Donte Moncrief for a 31-yard touchdown, making it a 42-34 game — and making for some nervous moments inside Heinz Field.
Pittsburgh’s defense came up big though, sacking Luck for a safety to make it 44-34, giving the ball back to the Steelers’ offense for Roethlisberger to put the game away.
He did just that in impressive fashion, connecting with Brown for 18 yards and Miller for 10 yards before eventually hitting Miller for an 11-yard touchdown on a fourth and one rollout, giving him six touchdowns on the day, and a 51-34 win for the Steelers.
Roethlisberger went on a heater that day.
He wasn’t done though.
Week 9, 2014 — Steelers 43, Ravens 23 — Ben Roethlisberger stats: 25-of-37 passing, 340 yards, six touchdowns
In a rivalry matchup with the Baltimore Ravens at Heinz Field on Sunday Night Football, Roethlisberger threw his way into the record books in style, lighting up the Ravens in impressive fashion, though it took a bit to get going.
Baltimore jumped out to a 7-0 lead thanks to a 35-yard touchdown pass from Joe Flacco to wide receiver Torrey Smith. That would be the only scoring in the first quarter between the two teams. It was quiet into the second quarter, too, until midway through the quarter when Roethlisberger got the Steelers on the board.
On a third and five from the Baltimore 5-yard line, Roethlisberger hit Le’Veon Bell out of the slot on a back shoulder throw for a 5-yard touchdown, kickstarting his record day.
Two plays later, outside linebacker Jason Worilds picked off Flacco and returned the interception 30 yards, giving the Steelers great field position.
Roethlisberger took advantage quickly.
After a 7-yard completion to Bryant and a 4-yard run by Dri Archer, Roethlisberger fired a strike towards the left sideline to a sliding Bryant for a 19-yard score and a 14-7 Steelers lead.
That throw from Roethlisberger, after his vintage pump fake, really caused the star quarterback to heat up again.
Following a field goal from Justin Tucker to make it a 14-10 game, the Steelers’ offense hit the field and leaned on Roethlisberger. He came through in a big way.
With 1:01 left in the first half, Roethlisberger aired it out, hitting Wheaton down the right sideline in stride for a 47-yard touchdown, eventually sending the Steelers into the half with a 21-10 lead.
Even after closing the first half strong, the Steelers’ offense was quiet in the third quarter going scoreless. In the fourth quarter though, Pittsburgh caught fire.
Roethlisberger got Baltimore outside linebacker Elvis Dumervil to jump offsides on a third and 13, creating a third and eight. Then, he hit Brown on a throw near the right sideline that eventually turned into the star receiver zigging and zagging his way through the Ravens defense for a 54-yard touchdown and a 28-10 lead.
Baltimore didn’t go away quietly though as Jacoby Jones returned the ensuing kickoff 108 yards for a score, giving the ball right back to Roethlisberger.
Again, he took advantage.
Roethlisberger hit Miller for 14 yards and Brown for 16 yards before throwing a laser to Bryant between two Ravens defenders for a 19-yard touchdown, giving him five on the day.
Man, when he was younger and fully healthy he could really spin the football.
What a throw.
He wasn’t finished, either.
After a Crockett Gilmore touchdown from Baltimore, Roethlisberger finished off the blowout win in style.
On a fourth and two from the Baltimore 33-yard line, Roethlisberger slid to his left and lofted a perfectly thrown football to little-used tight end Matt Spaeth, resulting in a 33-yard touchdown, giving him his sixth touchdown of the game, capping off the 43-23 win.
The two-week stretch was historic for Roethlisberger.
No quarterback had ever (and remains true today) thrown six touchdown passes in back-to-back games. On top of that, Roethlisberger is the only quarterback in NFL history to have thrown for 500+ yards in a game three times in the NFL. A quarterback has thrown for 500 yards in a game 26 times. Drew Brees and Tom Brady have done it twice; Roethlisberger is the only one to do it three times.
