BIG BEN ON A BACK BOARD

There was speculation before Sunday’s game between the Steelers and the Browns that Pittsbutgh quarterback Ben Roethlisberger might not play. In hindsight, it would have been a good idea. With less than two minutes remaining in the first half of a game the Steelers were leading 7-0, Roethlisberger was sandwiched while throwing the ball by two Cleveland defenders -- and he eventually was carted off the field on a back board. Roethlisberger remained on the field for more than ten minutes as the training staff removed his facemask and loaded him onto the back board and a stretcher. None of this means that Roethlisberger has been seriously injured; he seems to have been moving his extremities, and he gave the crowd a thumb’s up as the cart was leaving the playing field.