Things have not looked good for quarterback Ben Roethlisberger and the Steelers over the last few weeks.
With the team at 1-2, head coach Mike Tomlin said on Tuesday that Pittsburgh isn’t going to “push the panic button” by making wholesale changes a few weeks into the season.
Speaking to the media on Wednesday, Roethlisberger largely echoed his head coach’s assessment and said he doesn’t feel like Pittsburgh’s offense is far off from what it needs to be.
“I think there’s not this one big glaring thing,” Roethlisberger said, via Teresa Varley of the team’s website. “It’s just a little thing here, a little thing there, which I think is why we can be encouraged as an offense that it’s not that far off.
“We’re a group that is close I believe. We’re a group that has to believe in each other, which I think we do. And we’re a group that is not going to panic.”
The Steelers are currently 25th in total offense and 28th in points scored. The club is 32nd in rushing, which is likely not a formula for winning with an aging quarterback. Roethlisberger has completed 64 percent of his passes for 801 yards with three touchdowns and three interceptions. He’s also been sacked eight times.
Roethlisberger also talked about the need to start faster in games. But ultimately if it’s the first drive or the last, Pittsburgh just needs to be better offensively. And that starts with the QB.
“We need to just execute the plays that are called,” Roethlisberger said. “Our coach does a great job of taking the blame and he doesn’t need to take it anymore. We as players need to take more accountability and execute the plan and make it work.”
