Two Goods and a Bad: When Big Ben Draws Plays, Steelers Are a Super Bowl Team
PITTSBURGH -- It seemed like forever, but the Pittsburgh Steelers are back to their winning way, handing the Indianapolis Colts a 28-24 loss in Week 16.
The Steelers now have decisions to make. Should they rest starters before the postseason? Can the offense play better when Ben Roethlisberger is in control? How many Brinks Trucks can Mike Hilton drive at one?
"We'll ponder those possibilities in the morning," head coach Mike Tomlin said after the game. "Tonight, we're going to wear our hats and T-shirts."
Pittsburgh reclaimed the AFC North for the first time since 2016 in dramatic fashion. A 24-7 comeback win in the second half put the Steelers back in the driver's seat of their playoff situation and might have ended the Cleveland Brown's postseason hopes.
So, here we are. The Steelers leave Week 16 after snapping their losing streak. And in what almost felt like a lost concept, we're back to our nearly famous 'Two Goods and a Bad'.
Ben Draws Plays Better Than Randy Calls Them
Maybe this is a good; maybe this is a bad. Either way, it's abundantly clear Ben Roethlisberger is a better play-caller than offensive coordinator Randy Fichtner.
Until the drive stalled out on the one-yard line, Roethlisberger led the Steelers offense 78-yards using no-huddle and his classic "drawing plays in the dirt."
It was the first time in a while that we've seen the 38-year-old quarterback take over his offense during this losing streak. And for the first time in Week 16, there was light for this offense.
The next drive, Roethlisberger came back with a one-play, 39-yard touchdown bomb to Diontae Johnson. It's crazy how changing up play calls works sometimes.
"Guys made plays. That's what we needed in the second half, was guys to step up, make the tough catches, block," Roethlisberger said after the game. "We just have little things here and there, little MEs (mental errors), little mistakes. In the second half it just felt like we were able to kind of get into a rhythm, convert first downs and put drives together."
The Steelers' second half was the offense this group can have if they wanted to. The problem all season has been the inability to keep defenses guessing to allow everything, run game included, to work in unison.
The Steelers' Super Bowl hopes are very alive when Roethlisberger is in control. It's crunch time moving forward, which means there's no room to let Fichtner back in the driver's seat this season.
"We need to execute the plays no matter who's calling them," Roethlisberger said. "I thought Randy called a good game tonight. We didn't execute when he called the good plays. Like I said, some little MEs here, one here on this play. That's on us. We need to execute the plays that are called. We'll see. I don't know that we need to sit here and say, We need to go no-huddle every play and every game. We just need to execute the plays that are called."
Steelers Defense
"We had a slow start, but we came back out in the second half and made the plays we needed to make, and I think in the second half we played great team football," defensive end Stephon Tuitt said postgame.
The Steelers defense might be the best in the NFL when given actual time to recover between drives. When the offense provides more than four-play rests, this group can shut down any offense, and they showed that in the second half.
This group contains the 2020 Defensive Player of the Year - no question about it - and playmakers all over the place. From Mike Hilton adding more money to his offseason contract by the week to Alex Highsmith starting to force pressure opposite of T.J. Watt, there aren't many holes when this group clicks.
The Steelers defense turned themselves around in a big way in Week 16. For the first time in four weeks, they forced a turnover - two actually - and gave their offense more opportunity to score points.
"We weren't able to force turnovers in our last three losses," Mike Hilton said, "and it kind of put more pressure on the offense, but as a defense, if we put them on short field, our offense will succeed, and we did that today."
If the offense clicks, so does the defense. And when everything is working as one, the Pittsburgh Steelers are as hard to beat as any team in the NFL.
It's Time to Give Up on the Offensive Line
At the end of the season, Al Villanueva, and possibly David DeCastro, should see themselves out of Pittsburgh. Despite Pro Bowl careers, the aging veterans are an alarming weak spot and an unsolvable problem for the Steelers' offense.
The Steelers finished yet another game under the 50-yard rushing mark. James Conner led the way with five touches for 20 yards and a touchdown, and even if it seemed impressive, there was no real threat of a ground game.
Next season, there's a possibility to replace the problems upfront. Zach Banner's hopeful return to Pittsburgh and the addition of another young piece or two would boost this group. But until then, there's really nothing that can be done.
It's a problem the Steelers are stuck with. Not the best case scenario heading into the playoffs, but it's what they have. And hopefully, the 'Goods' can outweigh the bad.
Noah Strackbein is a Publisher with AllSteelers. Follow Noah on Twitter @NoahStrack, and AllSteelers @si_steelers.
