By Jordan Long
The Pittsburgh Steelers fell to the Cleveland Browns in the Super Wild Card round 48-37. This was the Browns’ first win in the playoffs since 1994. It could have been Ben Roethlisberger’s last game in the NFL.
Roethlisberger looked awful in the first half. It didn’t help that in the first offensive play of the game the football was snapped over his head. Cleveland recovered for a touchdown. He also gifted the Browns three interceptions in the first half. The 4 turnovers allowed the Browns to score 21 points off of those turnovers putting the Steelers in a 35-10 hole.
In the second half, Roethlisberger was more careful with the football with one interception tossed. The Steelers outscored the Browns 27-13 but it was too little, too late as their season comes to a close with a 48-37 loss.
Roethlisberger ended the game 47 of 68 passing for 501 yards and 4 touchdowns. He also totaled 4 interceptions. The 47 completions is a new NFL postseason record. His 68 passing attempts were 3rd in an NFL postseason game. His 501 yards is 2nd only to Tom Brady who had 505 in Super Bowl 52.
Once the game was over, Roethlisberger was asked about his future. According to UPI.com, Roethlisberger said, “I hope the Steelers want me back, if that’s the way we go. There will be a lot of discussions, but now is not the time for that.”
Roethlisberger should leave the game of football. He is going to go down as one of the best Steelers’ quarterbacks to play the game. He has thrown for 60,348 yards in his career, 7th in NFL history. Roethlisberger also has 396 touchdowns which is 8th on the All-Time list.
Roethlisberger won 2 Super Bowls and has been voted into the Pro Bowl 6 times. There isn’t anything left for him to accomplish in the NFL. He is going to be inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame at some point.
The only reason to play is to honor his contract. He has 1 year left but it is a high cap hit. Roethlisberger will cost the Steelers around $41.25 million in cap space, a lot to take on. If they let him go the dead cap space would only be $22.25 million. The Steelers may talk to him to lower that cap hit.
In the regular season Roethlisberger showed he could still play the game at a high level. In the playoff game loss against the Browns, Roethlisberger looked lost and wasn’t reading the defense in the 1st half. It took him until the 2nd-half to figure out what the Browns were doing on defense. The love of the game may keep him playing. In the end, Roethlisberger will do what is best for him, but retiring seems like the best option. Roethlisberger will take his time. An answer will come during the offseason, hopefully before the draft and free agency.
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