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Appearing on on his weekly radio segment for 93.7 The Fan on Tuesday morning, Ben Roethlisberger had plenty to say about the Pittsburgh Steelers Week 12 loss. From questioning the play-calling in the final seconds of the game, to Antonio Brown’s inability to run a route properly, Big Ben was quick to point a number of mistake he believed were made on Sunday.
However, it was interesting to note that he had no real problems with the two interceptions he threw against the Denver Broncos. In response to questions about his own turnovers, the Steelers’ quarterback made no apologies for the part he played in losing the game.
“Sometimes those things happen. I’m a quarterback that is going to go out and sling it. You talk about gunslinger or whatever you want to talk about. I’m not going to worry about interceptions. I hate doing them. They bother me. But I’m going to go out and play my game and try to help us win football games.”
While self-confidence is an important trait for any successful NFL quarterback, it is hard to overlook the number of interceptions Roethlisberger has put up this season. Tied for second in the league at 12 with Ryan Fitzpatrick and just behind rookie Sam Darnold (14), Big Ben also leads the NFL in redzone turnovers with four.
Ben Roethlisberger a fascinating case of a QB unafraid of risk/turnovers while keeping win totals high. Only Blake Bortles has more interceptions than Roethlisberger's 55 since 2015, but as @gerrydulac pointed out, since then only Tom Brady has more wins than Big Ben, 44 to 37.
— Jeremy Fowler (@JFowlerESPN) November 27, 2018
As Jeremy Fowler of ESPN notes, Big Ben has thrown a frightening number of interceptions over the last few year when compared to his peers, but it is hard to question his win rate, even in games when he has thrown multiple picks.
On course to record the second highest number of interceptions he has ever given away in a season, beating the total of 16 he threw in 2015, Roethlisberger is thankfully unlikely to eclipse his record of 23 from 2006. His picks have also come in bunches in 2018, with eight coming in just three games and only one of those matchups ended in a Pittsburgh victory.
Facing a tough schedule over the remaining five weeks of the season, the Steelers will be hoping to see more of the quarterback who only threw four interceptions between Weeks 2 and 10 than the one they have been seeing as of late.