Ben Roethlisberger reflects on Steelers career, Ravens rivalry after win

Ben Roethlisberger didn’t quite look like his Hall of Fame self in the 2021 season, frequently making poor decisions and quarterbacking a rather subpar Pittsburgh Steelers offense, but as has been the case all season, he did just enough to get the job done — even if it wasn’t pretty.

Roethlisberger, who earlier this season reportedly told teammates behind closed doors that he would retire at the conclusion of the year, had one final regular-season game to lead the Steelers on Sunday, thanks to the NFL adding a 17th regular-season game to the schedule. Frankly, Roethlisberger — and the entire Steelers offense — was mediocre, at best, in a division rivalry game with the Baltimore Ravens. But in the end, Roethlisberger still managed to string together a game-winning drive, one that resulted in a 36-yard Chris Boswell field goal. After the Steelers beat the Ravens by a 16-13 final score, the Steelers kept their playoff hopes alive, so Roethlisberger is likely not done in a Pittsburgh uniform.

So long as Sunday night’s contest between the Los Angeles Chargers and Las Vegas Raiders doesn’t end in a tie, Roethlisberger and the Steelers will head to the playoffs as an NFC wild card team. After the emotional win, Roethlisberger reflected on his career, particularly the Ravens rivalry, after playing his last career game in Baltimore.

“It’s just special,” Roethlisberger said after the win, as the Steelers — previously all but written off from the playoff hunt — had their hopes kept alive thanks to the Jacksonville Jaguars beating the Indianapolis Colts. “The man upstairs says I’m not done yet. So, we found a way to get into the tournament, as Coach (Tomlin) would call it. Who knows what goes from here.

“I’m just so proud of this group. Proud of this team and they way they fought through adversity against a great football team in a hostile environment,” Roethlisberger continued. “Just so thankful.”

Roethlisberger certainly didn’t have his best game, but the Steelers found a way, thanks to a terrific game-winning drive. In what should be his final regular-season game, Roethlisberger completed 30 of his 44 passing attempts, good for 244 passing yards, one touchdown and one interception.

“Isn’t this about as fitting of a Ravens-Steelers game as you could get?” Roethlisberger said with emotion. “Overtime, a little bit of extra football — this rivalry and this battle has been something that I’ll never forget. People always ask me, ‘Where is your least favorite place to play?’ And it’s always here (in Baltimore) because the fans are so passionate, and I tip my cap to them; this team is really good, it’s hard to play here and it always seems to be a battle. I’m just thankful that we had another great rivalry.”

The Steelers needed a little bit of magic to even have a fighting chance, and they received a double dose of magic in Roethlisberger’s finale. Entering Sunday, the chances that the Steelers made the playoffs were nine percent, according to the New York Times — not only did they need a win, but the Jaguars, who entered as 14.5-point underdogs to the Indianapolis Colts, had to find a way to pull off an unthinkable win. Of course, the Jaguars beat the Colts, 26-11, and Pittsburgh found a way to make more magic of its own on the final drive.

After fighting back from a deficit to send the game into overtime, the Steelers’ defense forced the Ravens to punt on their first drive of overtime. Then, with just two and a half minutes left in overtime, the Steelers’ drive stalled at the Baltimore 48-yard line. With so little time left, had they punted, the Steelers would either set up a Baltimore win with a score (which would, in turn, send the Ravens to the playoffs) or a potential tie, if the Ravens failed to score (which would eliminate both teams). On that fourth-and-8, Roethlisberger managed to find Ray-Ray McCloud for a miraculous 10-yard completion, extending the drive and setting up the game-winning field goal.

“It was one of those plays that we ended up changing a little bit,” Roethlisberger said of the fourth-down call. “Because Pat came over and told me they were guarding him in a different kind of way, so we said let’s run you on a different route. And they had everybody covered, and Ray-Ray made a hell of a play.”

Roethlisberger, the two-time Super Bowl winner, has nothing left to prove in his Hall of Fame resume. But after entering the day with just a nine percent chance of making the playoffs, the Steelers win and Jaguars tie moved Pittsburgh to a 99 percent chance.

Now, Roethlisberger has the chance to make it three.