Steelers News: Does Ben Roethlisberger typically start the season slow?

It has been a one-of-a-kind offseason for the Pittsburgh Steelers in 2020. Unable to attend most player pro days and participating in the NFL’s first virtual draft, the Steelers keep pushing forward toward a return to football activities. Just because the Steelers are unable to hold their typical OTA’s 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 Ben Roethlisberger’s first four games of each season.

Let’s get to the news:

• Starting strong in 2020 will important for Ben Roethlisberger in 2020

Does Roethlisberger really start slowly?

By: Jeff Hartman, DK Pittsburgh Sports

Ben Roethlisberger often calls himself a gunslinger, but is he actually slow on the draw?

One narrative which constantly circulates around the Steelers’ franchise quarterback is that he starts seasons slowly. Whether it’s lack of action in the preseason, or his taking days off during training camp, the fan base’s common perception seems to be that Roethlisberger struggles when the games first switch to Sundays.

Is this narrative true, though?

With Roethlisberger coming off a season-ending elbow injury, it’s fair to wonder for a lot of reasons how long it might take him to regain his usual form, but that only compounds it. So I went back and reviewed Roethlisberger’s career from 2005, the first season he entered as the starter, and weighed his first four games of each. There were a lot of numbers, obviously, so I’m going to deliver some as career statistics, others by season. After all, every season is a story in its own way.

Roethlisberger’s career in this context, by the numbers:

2005

W-L: 3-1
Completions/Attempts: 52/86
Yards: 973
TD: 7
INT: 0
QB Rating (Average): 124.3

2006

W-L: 1-3
Completions/Attempts: 71/121
Yards: 807
TD: 2
INT: 7
QB Rating (Average): 70.4

2007

W-L: 3-1
Completions/Attempts: 63/109
Yards: 807
TD: 8
INT: 3
QB Rating (Average): 93.5

2008

W-L: 3-1
Completions/Attempts: 53/85
Yards: 638
TD: 4
INT: 2
QB Rating (Average): 97.0

To read the full article, click HERE (Free)

• Are Steelers fans spoiled by success?

On Mike Tomlin, Steelers playoff droughts, NFL comps, history lessons

By: Tim Benz, Pittsburgh Tribune-Review

Given the Pittsburgh Steelers’ track record since 1972, NFL fans in the city may have a slightly skewed vision of success versus failure.

That’s my nice way of saying, “Yinz know, Stiller fans are spoiled, n’at, right?”

Granted, if the Steelers fail to make the playoffs again in 2020, that’ll be three seasons in a row. And it’ll be four without a postseason victory.

In Pittsburgh, that feels like a desert.

Compare that to some other places, though.

Take a look at a few of these franchises who happened to finish with the same record or better than the Steelers in 2019.

Baltimore Ravens: Just one playoff win (at Heinz Field following the 2014 season) over the past seven years.

San Francisco 49ers: Five-year playoff drought before their NFC title run last year.

Buffalo Bills: No playoff wins since the beginning of 1996 and just five trips in those 24 seasons.

Tennessee Titans: Prior to their two wins in the postseason last year, the Titans had just one playoff victory since the start of the 2004 season.

Dallas Cowboys: Just one playoff win in the past five seasons, only two since 2010, only four since 1997.

Just to pluck a few examples.

To read the full article, click HERE (Free)

• The Steelers have plenty of their own players they need to pay before thinking about adding more

Steelers first need to take care of their own

By: Jeff Hartman, DK Pittsburgh Sports

“The Steelers should sign Cam Newton!”

“Sign Clay Matthews now!”

I could keep going with these sentiments from the Steelers faithful as the 2020 regular season approaches, but I feel you catch my drift. For many, there always is a player on the open market who fans would love the team to court. This happened Friday when news of Jets safety Jamal Adams requested a trade out of New York.

Just take a look at Steelers Twitter and you’ll see people suggesting the team should sign Adams. To this, the answer should be, “With what money?” The Steelers are bellied up to the salary cap, and before they even consider bringing in anyone from the outside, which I think they should eventually, they have to take care of their own first.

Here is a list of players who will be Unrestricted Free Agents (UFAs) after the 2020 season:

Bud Dupree
Cam Heyward
Alejandro Villanueva
Matt Feiler
Mike Hilton
Tyson Alualu
Zach Banner
JuJu Smith-Schuster
Cam Sutton
James Conner

To read the full article, click HERE (Free)

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