Ben considered retirement after last loss in Philly??

Big Ben considered retirement after last game in Philly
Originally posted on The Sports Daily
By Mike Batista | Last updated 9/20/16


Ben Roethlisberger admitted he contemplated retirement after a tough game in Philadelphia in 2008. Charles LeClaire-USA TODAY Sports
When the Steelers visit Philadelphia Sunday, they’ll try for a better result than their last trip there.

It will be a better turnout as long as Ben Roethlisberger doesn’t consider retirement after the game.

The Eagles beat the Steelers 15-6 in Week 3 of the 2008 season. Roethlisberger was sacked eight times in that game. Only once in his career has he been sacked more in one game.

“I remember driving home from the airport after that game and thinking to myself like, do I want to keep doing this? Do I really want to keep playing football?” Roethlisberger said Tuesday on his weekly radio show on 93.7 The Fan in Pittsburgh.

Roethlisberger, who was 26 at the time, said he stopped by teammate Brett Keisel’s house and talked about it over beers for a couple of hours.

“I was literally like this is not fun, this is not really worth it. But we talked and got over it,” Roethlisberger said.

Roethlisberger won his second Super Bowl four months later.

It would be stunning if Roethlisberger is sacked eight times Sunday. The Steelers won the championship in 2008 despite their offensive line. Roethlisberger was sacked 46 times that year. The line is better now with Hall of Famer Mike Munchak coaching the unit. Roethlisberger has been sacked just twice this season, and even though he missed four games with injuries last year he was sacked just 20 times in the 12 games he did play.

The protection should be better, but the win over the Eagles (2-0) won’t be so easy. The Steelers (2-0) are 0-8 at Philadelphia since 1965. The Steelers’ last win at Philadelphia came at Franklin Field. Roethlisberger has a chance to be the first Steelers quarterback to win at Philadelphia since the immortal Bill Nelsen.

The 2008 Steelers fell to 2-1 after losing to the Eagles. The Steelers can improve to 3-0 with a win Sunday and get a historic leg up on that championship team.

Like I said I would have that tape playing in the locker room all week..yes I know it's not the same Oline but it would piss them off by watching it.

Can Eagles slow down DeAngelo Williams, potent Steelers attack?



PHILADELPHIA -- The Philadelphia Eagles defense is largely responsible for the team's 2-0 start. Jim Schwartz's group has yielded just 17 points through two games, has racked up six sacks and three forced fumbles, and ranks fourth in opponent yards per game.

The 'D' will be tested in a big way this week, as the high-powered Pittsburgh Steelers come to town led by quarterback Ben Roethlisberger, wide receiver Antonio Brown and running back DeAngelo Williams. The Steelers enter Week 3 ranked fourth in points per game (31.0), sixth in rushing and and eighth in yards per game (405.5).

Here are six players to watch, courtesy of ESPN Steelers reporter Jeremy Fowler:


DeAngelo Williams leads the NFL in rushing through two weeks. Jason Bridge/USA TODAY Sports
OFFENSE

WR Antonio Brown: Brown's presence in opposing team's scouting reports is obvious. But since Brown rarely has slim production in back-to-back weeks, he'll be looking to recover from last week's four-catch, 39-yard outing against the Bengals. Rain seemed to disrupt the timing of Brown and Roethlisberger. The Eagles must stay tight on Brown by the sideline, where he's so dangerous at catching passes.

RB DeAngelo Williams: The Steelers have fed Williams in the last two games without Le'Veon Bell, and Williams has rewarded the faith with a league-leading 237 rushing yards and three total touchdowns. If the Eagles defense plans to stop the pass, Roethlisberger has no problem checking into running plays. Williams is physical runner who puts his head down and hits the hole quickly.

RG David DeCastro: DeCastro vs. Fletcher Cox will be an intense matchup any time Cox is matched up at left defensive tackle. Two high-level talents getting after it. DeCastro was rewarded with a six-year, $58-million contract extension after an All-Pro season, and he's eager to validate that deal with his play. This is a good chance to do just that.

DEFENSE

OLB Jarvis Jones: The Steelers have played well defensively but could use more pressure off the edge after recording one sack in two games. Jones has played good all-around football in two games. He's hoping quarterback pressures turn into splash plays. Jones also drops into coverage fairly often and is stout against the run.

LB Ryan Shazier: He's emerged as the defense's most prolific player. If the Steelers are stopping offenses in the underneath passing game, Shazier is usually a big reason why. The Eagles will have to account for Shazier roaming in zone coverage and covering tons of ground.

CB Ross Cockrell: The Steelers put the 6-foot-1 Cockrell on A.J. Green for much of the Bengals game. Cockrell will likely stay on the outside against Nelson Agholor, Dorial Green-Beckham. Cockrell has been a pleasant surprise for the Steelers defense after Buffalo cut him in the 2015 preseason.

2 more years Ben, give us 2 more years

that last game in Philly and the giants game that year was the tipping point in my dislike for Arians as a OC... in both cases the teams gave up deep coverage in order to all out blitz a shoddy Oline and WE NEVER ADJUSTED WITH QUICK ROUTES... in his post game presser Arians literally said that quick slants and screens wouldnt work vs that... you know... exactly how we counter it these days....

Ben got killed in that game because Arians is a dumbass.

Super Dave said:

Ben got killed in that game because Arians is a dumbass.

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Actually, we pass more under Haley and the OL players drafted like DeCastro and Gilbert were not there for Airans. Ben also held the ball a bit too long back then. None of the above is Arians fault.

Coach said:

Actually, we pass more under Haley and the OL players drafted like DeCastro and Gilbert were not there for Airans. Ben also held the ball a bit too long back then. None of the above is Arians fault.

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Did Arians adjust his game plan to account for the (lack of) Oline talent on hand? Did he call plays that required Ben to get rid of the ball faster or was it more or less run, run ... bombs away? Arians isn't a dumb ***, as his recent success has shown (even though he seems more than willing to get Palmer killed). But, he was partially to blame for the sacks Ben took earlier in his career.

SteelBuckeye said:

Did Arians adjust his game plan to account for the (lack of) Oline talent on hand? Did he call plays that required Ben to get rid of the ball faster or was it more or less run, run ... bombs away? Arians isn't a dumb ***, as his recent success has shown (even though he seems more than willing to get Palmer killed). But, he was partially to blame for the sacks Ben took earlier in his career.

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Nor did he mandate Ben learn his craft and become more cerebral and rely less on freelancing.

With this O-line, they are going to give Ben ample time to do what he needs to do. Last week being an exception due to the poor weather

I've said it before but my "Get Arians the **** out of town moment" was a game against some nameless faceless opponent. (I can't even remember who it was.) The camera was behind Ben and he dropped back. The other team had been blitzing the **** out of Pittsburgh all day and as Ben dropped back, he wasn't even finished with his 7 step drop when the pocket was collapsing and a couple defensive linemen and a linebacker were bearing down on Roethlisberger already.

So, imagine that. Literally a ******* horde (probably of Ravens) is about to destroy Roethlisberger the camera is situated behind him so you can more or less see what Roeth sees.

And all you can see...

The backs of 5 ******* Steeler receiver jersey's running full speed downfield. Not one of them looking back, not a single outlet guy, no help for Roeth. Just 5 wide, 5 go-routes. And Ben taking a 17 yard sack with about 1000 lbs of meat piling on him.

The receivers didn't even know the play was over until they'd run 45 yards downfield.

******* Arians. I'll never forget that. You could see ALL 5 of the ******* backs of the jerseys running away from the L.O.S. It was ridiculous.

Got lots of yards and not enough points. I like this offense better lots of points, quicker routes, and still has the chance to go deep. Arians is a guy that is locked into his system regardless of his players. He said he was not going to change his game plan in the super bowl to compensate for missing people, we lost that game, we could have won it.

Wingman said:

Got lots of yards and not enough points. I like this offense better lots of points, quicker routes, and still has the chance to go deep. Arians is a guy that is locked into his system regardless of his players. He said he was not going to change his game plan in the super bowl to compensate for missing people, we lost that game, we could have won it.

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Same dude who wanted to throw the football 45 times in horrific weather against a brownies team with the worst run defense in the league giving up miles of rushing yardage a game.

Coach said:

Actually, we pass more under Haley and the OL players drafted like DeCastro and Gilbert were not there for Airans. Ben also held the ball a bit too long back then. None of the above is Arians fault.

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Arians flailed miserably in every stint as an OC with many of the same issues... that he is a good head coach or a great WR's coach is not the issue... he was a crappy OC and he was the guy who tried to fit square pegs in round holes along the Oline... The much balleyhoed divorce with Zierlien showed us that.

Ben held the ball so long because the entire principle of arians offense here, in indy, in cleveland.. everywhere was using undernieth routes to move the safeties and open up the deep passes... everything he did took time to develop. it worked, when the qb got the time, but ypou cannot throw away every damn pass and there were entire games ben had less than a second before pressure got to him... that is when you make hot reads like we have now more prevalent... in every year of bens career with arians, his passer rating when throwing the ball within a second of getting it was amazing, yet the sample size remained incredibly small because it just wasnt part of the gameplan for him.... we didnt run screens, or use fullbacks or anything else except run his mid to deep passing game with the occasional bubble screen or run thrown in. it was absurd

That game was brutal. I still remember that game

I don't believe for a second he actually thought about retiring lol.

SteelBuckeye said:

Did Arians adjust his game plan to account for the (lack of) Oline talent on hand? Did he call plays that required Ben to get rid of the ball faster or was it more or less run, run ... bombs away? Arians isn't a dumb ***, as his recent success has shown (even though he seems more than willing to get Palmer killed). But, he was partially to blame for the sacks Ben took earlier in his career.

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Arians was a dumbass that day......Just like Mularky was a ******* dumbass the day that we threw 38 times in a 6-0 loss to the Jets in a blinding snowstorm.

Both are head coaches in the NFL so their football acumen is much more advanced than mine will ever be, not even remotely close, further apart than Pop Warner to the NFL, however, I said it then and I will say it now, and I'm willing to go out on that limb of an internet message board and say it, they were both ******* dumbasses those 2 days.

SteelBuckeye said:

Did Arians adjust his game plan to account for the (lack of) Oline talent on hand? Did he call plays that required Ben to get rid of the ball faster or was it more or less run, run ... bombs away? Arians isn't a dumb ***, as his recent success has shown (even though he seems more than willing to get Palmer killed). But, he was partially to blame for the sacks Ben took earlier in his career.

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You ever hear Bruce talk about not worrying about his QBs getting hit? He is actually arrogant about not caring about it. He laughs and just thinks QBs should just know they are gonna get hit and get over it.

Penguins&Steelers said:

I don't believe for a second he actually thought about retiring lol.

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If he did, he thought about it for about 3 seconds.

MTC said:

That game was brutal. I still remember that game

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Yep which is why it would be on a loop in the locker room. Oh y'all going to get beat up like that too OLine. Let your QB get hit like that again Oline. Have them nice and pissed by Sunday

Penguins&Steelers said:

I don't believe for a second he actually thought about retiring lol.

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Arians or Ben? LOL ... No, I think he was just PISSED at the moment and went to Brett's to have a couple of beers and calm down.

He very well might have thought about it. By that time he may have had some serious money put away and thought I can retire and still walk. The money a player like Ben gets would likely set any of the rest of us up forever quite comfortably, it is almost like winning the lottery every year!

Wingman said:

He very well might have thought about it. By that time he may have had some serious money put away and thought I can retire and still walk. The money a player like Ben gets would likely set any of the rest of us up forever quite comfortably, it is almost like winning the lottery every year!

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Yeah but at the end of the day, even losing a ******* football game for millions of dollars beats the living **** out of busting *** at a normal job for pennies. Look at the contracts he's signed since then too.

chipped ham said:

Same dude who wanted to throw the football 45 times in horrific weather against a brownies team with the worst run defense in the league giving up miles of rushing yardage a game.

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I never liked The Bruce anyway but that Browns game was the last straw for me.
"We don't adjust our gameplan based on the weather."

To date the Eagles have played the Browns and the Bears.
Gimme a FA King break.