Ben Roethlisberger’s called it the hardest hit he’s taken in his life and Bart Scott would gleefully agree. In a video shared to the Baltimore Ravens’ YouTube channel Tuesday, Scott replayed and relayed the story of his monster sack on Roethlisberger. He told it with a smile on his face, happy to knock that smirk off Roethlisberger’s.
“All I could see was that chest,” Scott said. “That number. Better yet, that chin. Got a chin like Jay Leno. I couldn’t wait to knock that smile off his smug face. No one has taken more from the Ravens than Ben Roethlisberger. It was our time to get some get-back.”
Before Scott breaks down the entire play, here’s a look at the hit. Scott free off the edge, driving Roethlisberger into the ground on an absolutely vicious collision.
Last summer, Roethlisberger told the story from his point of view on his Footbahlin podcast, confirming it was the biggest hit he took throughout his career.
“He hit me in my chest,” Roethlisberger said. “And everything went slow motion from there. I felt my body get lifted off the ground. I saw my feet go up Level 1, Level 2, there’s the sky. Hit the ground…it was all body weight and everything.”
Scott described the play in detail, noting it was their “Ace Fire Zone” call. The left defensive end would flash a pass rush to hold the right tackle, in this case Max Starks, before dropping into coverage. That allowed Scott a free rush off the edge. But Pittsburgh still had enough players to protect. Until one of them missed his block.
“Now, you always need a guy who didn’t study. The guy who didn’t study was Willie Parker,” Scott said. “Really, they did have it picked up if Willie would’ve went the right way. I’m coming and saying, ‘I can’t believe this.’ This dude has his chest wide open. I’m thinking, they’re going to see this as a hot route and the ball’s going to be out. And he burped the baby. And when he burped the baby, I knew Ben was trying to make a play downfield.”
In his podcast, Roethlisberger confirmed Parker went the wrong direction, sliding left when he should’ve looked right. “Burp the baby” meant Roethlisberger patting the ball as he looked to fire the ball deep downfield. Scott’s free rush didn’t give him the time, a sack instead of a big play.
To Roethlisberger’s credit, he didn’t miss much time. Charlie Batch subbed in for him the following third down but Roethlisberger returned to finish the game. But it was Baltimore’s day, blowing out the Steelers, 27-0. Roethlisberger was sacked nine times, though none in that game or the rest of his career hurt more than Scott’s wicked hit.
“It was the most beautiful play that you could ever think of,” Scott said.
Beautiful if you’re a Raven. Less so if you’re a Roethlisberger. But that was the Pittsburgh-Baltimore rivalry and hits like that will define the peak of that era.
