Ben Roethlisberger was the last Pittsburgh Steelers quarterback to throw for 400 yards in a game before Russell Wilson did it for the Steelers on Sunday against the Cincinnati Bengals. So it’s fitting that Wilson heard from Roethlisberger after the 44-38 Steelers win. On the latest episode of his Footbahlin podcast, Roethlisberger said he texted Wilson after the Steelers’ Week 13 win.
“I texted Russ, ‘Great game, way to play.’ I mean, career game. That was so much fun to watch. It looked like he was just doing whatever he wanted to.”
Wilson threw for 414 yards, the most since Roethlisberger against the Denver Broncos in 2018, and he threw for three touchdowns, giving him ten in a season, a number a Steelers quarterback hasn’t reached since Roethlisberger retired. While Roethlisberger spent his whole career with the Steelers and Wilson is joining the team late in his career, he’s having an impact at quarterback that the Steelers haven’t seen since the end of Roethlisberger’s career. While a part of that shows the futility of Pittsburgh’s offense under Kenny Pickett (and Matt Canada didn’t do them any favors, either), it also speaks to how well Wilson has played.
While the offense has sometimes felt reliant on Wilson’s deep ball, that wasn’t the case on Sunday. The Steelers were able to pick apart the Bengals’ defense, with four players having over 50 receiving yards and 10 players catching passes. Most of the work was done underneath, with Jaylen Warren and Najee Harris getting involved as receivers out of the backfield, and Wilson showed poise to help Pittsburgh have their best offensive output in years.
Roethlisberger has maintained a semi-close relationship with the Steelers since his retirement, with his podcast focused on the team (although it’s expanding toward talking about the NFL as a whole). He still has relationships with players on the team with whom he played. He has also built relationships with guys who joined the Steelers after him, especially in the quarterback position. He knows Wilson as the two competed against each other. Still, he also cultivated a relationship with Pickett, who was a guest on his podcast before last season and who was supposed to be the heir apparent to Roethlisberger.
Given that Roethlisberger was really the last great quarterback this team had and obviously their most recent quarterback to win a Super Bowl, it’s good that he’s staying connected and offering encouragement and praise when it’s due. While Wilson has won a Super Bowl and been in the league a long time and doesn’t need to hear from Roethlisberger when he’s had a good game, it’s a nice gesture, and I’m sure it feels good for Wilson to be appreciated by a team legend.
