Let’s be honest. There’s not much to feel good about when it comes to Ben Roethlisberger and the Steelers offense these days.
Even for those who have been in Roethlisberger’s camp throughout his whole Pittsburgh career.
Mark Madden is one of those folks in the Pittsburgh media. On 105.9 The X and TribLive, he’s long been a willing defender of Roethlisberger on all fronts. But even he can see some of the problems facing the Steelers offensive huddle with Roethlisberger under center.
And with an extra day to ruminate about the Steelers shortcomings in the wake of their defeat in Buffalo, Mark traces a lot of the issues back to the quarterback in this week’s “Madden Monday” podcast.
OK. It’s Tuesday now. But that doesn’t make Madden any less accurate in his assessment of Roethlisberger.
“I don’t think he was the sole reason they lost in Buffalo,” Madden said. “I don’t think he is the sole reason they are in a bad spot. But I think he was the main reason they lost in Buffalo.”
Madden is blaming a physical issue with Big Ben.
“Something is wrong with his arm,” Madden continued. “Or maybe his knee, and he can’t push off. Maybe it is a combination of both. But the deep ball has nothing on it.”
Madden says it’s not a matter of jumping off of Roethlisberger’s bandwagon. It’s more a matter acknowledging what your eyes should be telling you about his play.
“This town owes Ben a bigger debt of gratitude — the fans do — than they ever would believe or act upon,” Madden said. “But I can’t believe he is this bad right now. I can’t believe what I am seeing. That pick-6 (versus the Bills), you could tell it was a pick-6 the minute it left his hand. It had nothing on it.
“I’ve got to believe it’s physical. He wouldn’t get stupider. His guile and experience. (That) is why they started 11-0. I’ve never seen a situation where — a month ago — I thought he was MVP. Now I wonder if his career is over. In a month that happened.”
Yup, it did.
Madden and I talk all about that topic, some issues facing the Steelers defense, Vegas during a pandemic, a potential first post-covid concert experience and Bob Odenkirk as an action star.
