Much has been made this week about the likelihood that Monday will be the final pro game for Ben Roethlisberger in Pittsburgh. And for good reason, as over the past two decades few names have been more associated with the iconic Pittsburgh Steelers franchise and the city in which it resides.

In fact, perhaps the only name more synonymous with Pittsburgh’s 21-year-old football stadium than Roethlisberger is the name of the facility itself.

And its era, too, seemingly is coming to an end. The naming-rights deal with Kraft Heinz expires at the end of this Steelers’ season. It already was extended for one year last January at the height of the coronavirus pandemic upon the expiration of its original 20-year term.

In other words, at the same time they’re saying goodbye to Ben, Steelers fans on Monday might could also be bidding farewell to the “Heinz” in Heinz Field.

While few would mourn a change in corporate nomenclature, the Steelers have been remarkably successful at Heinz Field both over its 21-season history and over the past two months. They have lost their past four road games, but the Steelers are unbeaten in their past six played at home.

When the Steelers take the field Monday night, it will have been 99 days since they last lost a home game.

“No way. It’s been that long?” defensive captain Cameron Heyward said when told. “It’s been a long season. I didn’t even know that.

“We always want to take care of our fans and do right by them.”

They have this season, both via sending them home with wins and by doing so in exciting (albeit perhaps not entertaining) fashion. Each of the past five home games has had its outcome come down to the final seconds — two went into overtime.

“I like playing at home,” receiver Diontae Johnson said. “In front of our fans, the energy they give us, we feed off that energy. I don’t know, it’s different when you play at home than away. The vibe will be off (on the road). You’re in another city. You’ve got the fans talking to you the whole game, trying to throw you off.”

That’s been the case in 2021 for the Steelers, who at times — especially over the past two months — have been awful away from home. Since a Halloween win in Cleveland the most recent time they played the Browns, the Steelers have given up at least 36 points in each of their past four road games, losing each. Two were blowouts (losses by 31 and 26 points); the other two featured deficits of 17 and 29 points before late Steelers rallies.

Although he has engineered six game-winning drives and five fourth-quarter comebacks this season, Ben Roethlisberger also is coming off his two least productive passing games.https://t.co/lRRHywH8nZ

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Coach Mike Tomlin, in part, blamed the poor road efforts on an inexperienced offense (four rookie starters) encountering loud professional venues for the first time.

“We’ve got a bunch of new components on offense, players and so forth, whether it’s new to the NFL or new to us, and some of the communication things and things that get increasingly difficult in those environments you simply don’t deal with at home,” Tomlin said. “On the converse side, our opponent offense has to function in the environment that is Heinz Field, and man, we have one of the best environments in the National Football League.”

“Ben was always very competitive ... and somehow he always won," Cameron Heyward said before Friday’s #Steelers practice.

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The current season perhaps highlights starker home/road splits than ever for the Steelers. They have a minus-67 point differential on the road; minus-3 at home. They’ve allowed an average of 28.1 points per game on the road but only 20.5 at Heinz. Opposing offenses have averaged fewer than two touchdowns per game at Heinz Field but more than three per game in their home venues. The Steelers defense yields an average of 398.0 yards in road games but 265.6 in home games.

The offense similarly has had better production at home than on the road, albeit the splits aren’t as wide.

“It will not be a (negative) issue for us this week because we are at Heinz Field,” Tomlin said. “I acknowledge (playing well on the road) has been an issue.”

A Steelers win against the Browns would be their 122nd over the 21 years at Heinz Field; only the New England Patriots had more home wins in that time span entering this weekend’s play. Among current home facilities (regardless of how long they’ve been in use), the Patriots at Gillette Stadium are the only team with a better winning percentage.

The Steelers never have had a losing home record in their 21 years at Heinz Field.

Perhaps in part because of the projected Roethlisberger swan song, fans are gobbling up tickets to Monday’s game. The secondary-market ticket sales site TickPick reports high demand.

The final chance to play at home during the 2021 regular season, Monday also could mark the final NFL appearance in Pittsburgh for the “Roethlisberger” and “Heinz” names.

“Steeler Nation does a heck of a job of making it a miserable place for our opponents,” Tomlin said, “and I’m looking forward to them doing so for the Cleveland Browns this week.”

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