Steelers Great Ben Roethlisberger Has A Message For Pittsburgh Regarding James Pierre's Viral "Flop"

The Pittsburgh Steelers made numerous crucial mistakes during their Week 12 loss to the Chicago Bears. One of them was by cornerback James Pierre, who allegedly (and probably) flopped after tripping over DJ Moore's foot. Because that happened in the final two minutes, Pittsburgh was charged with its final timeout before getting the chance to try and drive down the field to at least tie the game and send it to overtime. 

Former quarterback Ben Roethlisberger brought that play up during his show, Footbahlin with Ben Roethlisberger. While he did put some blame on Pierre for staying on the ground a bit too long, he also questioned what everyone else was doing while the cornerback was on the ground.

"In that situation, you have got to get off the field," Roethlisberger said. "You have got to know that a timeout cannot be used. Players need to grab him; coaches need to grab him. Anything you can [do], get off the field because that time out is gold. At any point, they could have used it in that [final] drive. You don't realize how big a timeout is in a drive like that."

That timeout could have been used if the Steelers did manage to break a chunk play and get stopped before reaching the sidelines. That could have led to Chris Boswell kicking a game-tying field goal to send it to overtime, where anything can happen. Instead, they lost the game at Chicago's 47-yard line. 

If Pierre did flop, his goal was very simple: draw a 15-yard penalty on Moore to back the Bears up for their punt and give the Steelers much better field position for that final drive. However, a timeout is arguably a lot more useful than an unnecessary roughness penalty in that specific scenario. Chicago gave Pittsburgh a freebie by failing to complete a pass on that 3rd down, and the team did not accept that gift.

Also in that frame, Brandin Echols stands there and points at Pierre to signal to people that he is down and potentially hurt. Of course, the officials see that and call an injury timeout on the Steelers. What he should have done, according to Roethlisberger, is get him up and do what he could to help him off the field. Others should have done the same, including the coaches on the sideline. 

Situations like that is why the rule is in place. If that wasn't the case, players would fake injuries in the final two minutes all the time, whether it's to stop the clock or try and draw a flag. Obviously, if he did flop, Pierre wasn't trying to stop the clock, as the previous play was an incomplete pass. Either way, he should have been aware of the rule and found his way to the sideline, especially since he left the field under his own power.

Steelers Used High Draft Pick On Player After Similar Situation

In college, center Zach Frazier broke his leg as his West Virginia Mountaineers were attempting a game-winning drive. At that level, the rule is that a five-yard delay-of-game penalty will be assessed for a team that has an injury late when they have no timeouts left. He showed his grit, toughness, and will to win by bear-crawling and hopping off the field to avoid that penalty. West Virginia went on to eventually win that game, and the Steelers selected him in the second round of the 2025 NFL Draft. 

What do you think about Roethlisberger calling out Pierre and the Steelers for wasting a timeout by not getting the cornerback off the field? Let us know in the comments or on X at @Steelers_ChrisB.

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