Steelers, Ben Roethlisberger may already regret having tried again

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When the Steelers and Ben Roethlisberger worked out a revised contract that kept him in Pittsburgh for an 18th season, I said the team and the player would regret that decision in November.

If they were injected with truth serum, they would most likely admit that they would already regret it.

Through three games, Roethlisberger is struggling. His 79.0 passer rating places him 28th among all current starting quarterbacks, ahead of only Tua Tagovailoa (and Jacoby Brissett), Trevor Lawrence, Ryan Fitzpatrick and Justin Fields.

Sunday’s game against the Bengals was Roethlisberger’s statistical low point for the season, with a 70.9 passer rating. As NBC’s Rodney Harrison said on Football night in America, Roethlisberger looks “extremely old”.

He has a pectoral injury. At one point on Sunday, his right arm got in the way. And there are still 14 regular season games to play.

That said, there are still 14 regular season games to play. Things can change, quickly. Linebacker TJ Watt, who missed Sunday’s game with a groin injury, makes the difference.

However, things quickly get difficult. They will face the Packers, Broncos and Seahawks over the next three weeks, before a bye. A 2-4 start seems possible. From the way they played on Sunday, 1-5 is not out of the question.

After week seven, two games against the Browns, two against the Ravens and visits to the Chargers, Chiefs, Bengals and Vikings loom.

Never underestimate the abilities of Coach Mike Tomlin. He has a knack for making chicken salad. Either way, he needs to activate the recipe, because the last couple of weeks have definitely looked like chicken you know what.

The biggest reason for hope is that the offense remains new, a work in progress. While this is kind of a weird Frankenstein monster with old and new players and 80% new offensive linemen and a new coordinator and no obvious identities, more reps will help. If / when some of these reps can lead to success.

Currently, the Steelers are 25th in all-out offense – and last in rushing offense, with 53.0 yards per game. Without a running game, the defenses will not be fair. And Ben will be very busy avoiding defensive linemen and blitz linebackers and defensive backs. At some point, he could take over the line made famous by Roger Murtaugh.