Steelers' Ben Roethlisberger Points Out Undeniable Mistakes Made Against Browns In Week 6

The Pittsburgh Steelers recently hosted the Cleveland Browns in a pivotal Week 6 matchup and came away with a dominant 23-9 win to move the team to 4-1 on the year. Sunday’s victory helped widen the gap in the AFC North with every other team in the division all losing for the second consecutive week. Everything about this win was pure dominance, from quarterback Aaron Rodgers' performance, a stout performance by the offensive line, and the defense racking up six sacks on the day to completely shut down the Browns’ offensive attack.

This display by the Steelers was one of the best performances we've seen all year so far, but it wasn't entirely without flaws. Some of the shortcomings were noticed by former quarterback Ben Roethlisberger, and he pointed them out on an episode of Footbahlin with Ben Roethlisberger that came out the day after the game officially concluded.

Within that particular episode of Footbahlin, he discussed a variety of topics from the game against the Browns, but noticeably had this to say regarding the Steelers' mistakes made in the game, of which there seemed to be few all day.

"But the bigger problem is 10 penalties," Roethlisberger said. "We were one of the least penalized teams going into that, and that was a big penalty game. 

Roethlisberger would continue on in that same segment to talk about another flaw he noticed within the game, which was the Steelers' abysmal third down conversion ratio. However, when he discussed that hot topic, he also made additional remarks on why people shouldn't be too concerned about it as it pertains to the game against the Browns.

“Again, third down, five of 13,” Roethlisberger noted. “Here's why I say it's not as big of a deal in a game like this: this is one of those games that they are not going to beat you. You can only beat yourself. Even on some of the third downs, it was very evident that Aaron was like, 'Okay, just get the ball out, and make a positive play, don't turn it over, don't force it down the field,' because the kicking game is your best friend in this game.”

Roethlisberger's comments were right on the money, considering Browns rookie quarterback Dillon Gabriel was only able to complete 29 passes on 52 attempts, and Browns rookie running back Quinshon Judkins was only able to manage 36 yards rushing and zero yards receiving. The Browns were ultimately unable to move the football at all due to the Steelers’ defense playing at an extremely high level throughout the entire game. The only way the Browns were able to move the football in a significant way were due to the Steelers' penalty yards. 10 penalties cost the Steelers 59 yards, which was the most penalties the Steelers have been hit with in a single game this season.

Nonetheless, Roethlisberger was proven right about his comments regarding only being able to beat themselves and that the opposing team can't beat them. The Steelers were able to move the ball efficiently and scored at least a field goal on five of their first six drives, with the Browns’ defense being able to do nothing to stop the ground attack or passing attack when it mattered most. However, despite this seemingly unstoppable effort from the Steelers on both sides of the ball, the two weaknesses Roethlisberger pointed out are definitely areas where the Steelers need to improve over the coming weeks.

Steelers Need To Clean Up The Penalties And Convert On Third Down

Hopefully, the Steelers will be able to clean up the penalties and convert on third down more reliably in the coming weeks, but the challenge will be recovering from these mistakes on a short week, as they go on the road to face the Cincinnati Bengals on Thursday Night Football. Prior to the game against the Browns, the Steelers were able to keep the penalty count low, and perhaps the Steelers will be able to recover from the higher than normal penalty count and get back to playing more disciplined football in their second divisional game in three weeks.

What do you think about Roethlisberger's comments about the only two weaknesses he saw in the Steelers’ dominant win over the Browns? Let us know in the comments or on X at @SteelersSwamp7.

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