Ben Roethlisberger on the Verge of More Milestones
While Pittsburgh Steelers quarterback Ben Roethlisberger isn't quite throwing the ball around the yard like he once was in his prime, there is still a very good chance he hits his next milestone sooner rather than later.
The 39-year-old quarterback is currently just 335 passing yards shy of moving into the top five all time among quarterbacks in NFL history, passing Phillip Rivers.
Last week against division rival Baltimore Ravens, Roethlisberger turned back the clock and delivered his best performance of the season, completing 21 of 31 passes for 236 yards and a pair of touchdowns. His numbers didn't quite tell the story of how on point he was for most of the afternoon. Diontae Johnson dropped a wide-open deep throw in the end zone right before half time. The duo persisted in the second half, however, and led the Steelers on another game winning drive. Roethlisberger's fifth of the season. That mark is tied with Justin Herbert for the league lead.
Big Ben has currently thrown 412 career regular season touchdown passes in his career, eight less than Dan Marino and nine less than Philip Rivers. With five games left to go in the season, it's not out of the realm of possibility that Roethlisberger could find himself sixth all-time on that list, as well.
Roethlisberger's 26-game streak of at least one touchdown pass is the longest such streak in the NFL, at the moment.
He'll match up against Kirk Cousins in primetime in Week 14, and it wouldn't be surprising if the Steelers were to have to rely on his arm to keep up with the Vikings explosive passing attack. Roethlisberger has faced off against the Minnesota Vikings four times in his 18-year career, going 3-1 in those matchups. The lone loss being in 2013 when the two franchises met in London.
The Steelers are trying to make one last playoff push with their old gunslinger behind center. FiveThirtyEight's playoff model currently gives the Steelers an 18% chance of making the postseason. A theoretically win in the windy city would bump their chances to 35% while the Steelers would get additional rest before the Tennessee Titans come visit Heinz Field.
Dealing with several injuries and after a slow start, Roethlisberger has turned it around a bit as of late. The Steelers are 5-2 in the last seven games that he's started. They'll be looking for more of the same out of their future Hall of Famer on Thursday night, and moving forward, as they march towards a playoff berth.
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