Ben Roethlisberger following Steelers’ loss: “I’m not on the same page with anyone”

The Pittsburgh Steelers find themselves in quite a rut after the first quarter of the season has come and gone. Sitting on a 1-2-1 record, there is a lot going wrong with the black-and-gold.

One of the aspects of the team which wasn’t so great in Sunday night’s loss to the Baltimore Ravens was quarterback Ben Roethlisberger. Roethlisberger finished the outing with 274 yards on 27-of-47 passing with one touchdown and an interception; however, only 50 of those yards came in the second half.

Roethlisberger has been in the league a long time, and he knows when to own a poor performance. After the 26-14 loss, he did just that.

“I’m not on the same page with anybody right now,” Roethlisberger told a scrum of reporters, via Jeremy Fowler of ESPN, when asked whether he’s on the same page with star receiver Antonio Brown.

“I’m not playing well enough,” he added. “I need to play better. Today was just a bad day at the office. I promise I’ll be back to play better.”

If this sounds eerily familiar, it is worth noting Roethlisberger had a similar response to a Week 5 shellacking by the Jacksonville Jaguars in 2017, a game where he threw 5 interceptions.

The Steelers bounced back last season, en route to a 13-3 regular season record, but the act of getting back on track in 2018 seems like a much taller task than in previous seasons.

Le’Veon Bell being absent doesn’t help, on multiple fronts, but the uncanny connection Roethlisberger shares with Antonio Brown just seems off. When Brown was asked what might be the problem between the tandem, he answer was vague.

“We gotta make it happen,” Brown said.

Needless to say, this offensive performance was bad, but the offense was just a piece of the overall problem. The players seemed ill prepared for the contest, the defense failed to get off the field and these issues are just the tip of the iceberg with the Steelers moving forward.

With that said, Roethlisberger took ownership of the loss, and took the brunt of the blame heading into a Week 5 contest at Heinz Field vs. the Atlanta Falcons.

“I let the guys down,” Roethlisberger added, but is this all just lip service?