Jaguars one of few teams Roethlisberger-era Steelers have struggled against
When it comes to facing the Jacksonville Jaguars, Pittsburgh Steelers quarterback Ben Roethlisberger often struggles.
His career passer rating of 78.2 against the Jaguars ranks 30th of 31 NFL teams.
Roethlisberger only has a lower passer rating against the Buffalo Bills, but one of those games was played in a blizzard and he is 4-0 against them. Jacksonville is one of only four AFC teams that Big Ben does not having a winning record against (including the postseason).
Counting two playoff losses, Roethlisberger has lost five of 10 starts against the Jaguars.
“The last 10 games against them have not been good at all,” Roethlisberger said Wednesday, four days in advance of his next meeting with Jacksonville. “Extra motivation, whatever you want to call it.”
Counting the playoffs, Roethlisberger has thrown 15 interceptions in 12 games against Jacksonville. The only other AFC teams he has not had a winning career record against are the New England Patriots, Denver Broncos and, oddly, Oakland Raiders. (The only NFC teams Roethlisberger has a losing record against are the New Orleans Saints and Chicago Bears).
The only teams that have beaten Roethlisberger more than the Jaguars in his 17-year career are the Patriots (nine times), Broncos (six times) and a pair of division teams: the Baltimore Ravens are 11-16 and the Cincinnati Bengals are 7-26 against him.
“We’re not taking these guys lightly,” Roethlisberger said of the 1-8 Jaguars, “because they’ve had our number.”
The only teams in Steelers history who have beaten the Steelers twice in Pittsburgh during the same season are the Jaguars in the Roethlisberger era: 2007 and 2017.
The teams’ most recent meeting was two years ago to the day Wednesday, when the Steelers needed to erase a 16-0 second-half deficit to improve to 7-2-1 with a win at the three-win Jaguars.
“I know it’s different teams,” Roethlisberger said, “it’s nothing like that, but you have to understand this game, this group and these two guys against each other and these two teams, it’s complete focus.”
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Chris Adamski is a TribLive reporter who has covered primarily the Pittsburgh Steelers since 2014 following two seasons on the Penn State football beat. A Western Pennsylvania native, he joined the Trib in 2012 after spending a decade covering Pittsburgh sports for other outlets. He can be reached at cadamski@triblive.com.
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