Steelers News: There is plenty for the Steelers to fix that doesn’t involve Ben Roethlisberger

The Pittsburgh Steelers 2019 season is officially over. After finishing the year 8-8, the Steelers, and their vast fan base, has another long offseason awaiting them. Just because the games are done doesn’t mean we stop providing you with features, commentary and opinions to tide you over throughout the offseason!

Today in the black-and-gold links article we take a look at the reality of the Steelers, and all their problems won’t be fixed by Ben Roethlisberger’s return.

Let’s get to the news:

• If Ben Roethlisberger is able to come back and play like we all remember him playing, there will still be plenty of areas of the Steelers that need fixing.

Tim Benz: Plenty for Steelers to fix that Ben Roethlisberger can’t

By: Tim Benz, Pittsburgh Tribune-Review

When assessing the 2020 Steelers offense, the easy thing to say is, “Ben Roethlisberger will be back, and that’ll fix everything.”

Given how good the defense could be again, what a dream scenario that would be!

Too bad it isn’t close to true.

Yes, Roethlisberger will fix a lot. Red zone proficiency should improve. The threat of his arm will back some defenders out of the box and open up the running game. His ability to make pre-snap reads at the line of scrimmage will put the offensive line in better protections, not to mention his ability to get rid of the ball quickly if needed. He’ll diagnose open receivers more often than Mason Rudolph or Devlin Hodges. The playbook will expand.

Not to mention, you know, the physical act of throwing of the football. That matters, too.

There are some things even Roethlisberger can’t fix, though. At Mike Tomlin’s season-ending press conference Tuesday, I asked the Steelers coach which of those things are the most concerning and need to be addressed this offseason.

To read the full article, click HERE (Free)

• February is going a big month for Big Ben and his rehab.

Ben Roethlisberger set for “significant” checkup in early February

By: Josh Alper, ProFootballTalk

Steelers quarterback Ben Roethlisberger said last week that he is “more determined than ever” to return to action in 2020 and his timetable for making that happen should come into clearer focus fairly soon.

Head coach Mike Tomlin didn’t have much of an update on Roethlisberger’s surgically-repaired right elbow during a Tuesday press conference. He did say that a better idea of where things stand now and into the future should come after Roethlisberger goes for a medical checkup in early February.

“That will be significant in terms of mapping out what is next,” Tomlin said, via the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review. “But that is a moving target.”

To read the full article, click HERE (Free)

• Turns out, Mason Rudolph’s shoulder injury was worse than originally expected.

Mason Rudolph’s injury was more serious than initially thought

By: Charean Williams, ProFootballTalk

Mason Rudolph thought he dislocated his left shoulder in the Dec. 22 game against the Jets. The Steelers quarterback later discovered that he had a more serious posterior sternoclavicular dislocation, an injury that can threaten several vital structures near the medial clavicle, per Gerry Dulac of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette.

“They were worried it would puncture my aorta,” Rudolph told Dulac. “It was very scary.”

Dr. Ivan Tarkin, a trauma surgeon at UPMC Mercy, operated on Rudolph shortly after the team returned home from the loss in East Rutherford, N.J. The second-year player stayed in a trauma unit for three days after the procedure.

“I thought it was a bad AC sprain,” Rudolph said. “I played a couple more plays and throws with it. Adrenaline was still pumping. Once I came over to the sideline it stiffened up and I was like, ‘I can’t even move my left arm or left side of my body.’ It was pretty painful.”

To read the full article, click HERE (Free)

• Mike Tomlin Season-Ending Press Conference

• Social Media Madness