Ben Roethlisberger is a dark horse MVP candidate? Say it ain’t so!

Ben Roethlisberger’s name has been one of the most polarizing subjects of the offseason. In the same day you can find an entire talk show dedicated toward how he’s terrible and washed up, and a TV hit about how he still has it and should be feared. Basically, no one knows what in the world the Steelers have in their veteran gunslinger. But Kris Knox of Bleacher Report has pushed the envelope further than what anyone else has done this offseason. Knox called Roethlisberger one of his Top 6 biggest dark horse MVP candidates of the 2021 season.

From the Adam Schien’s and Pro Football Focus’ of the world telling us this guy is the worst player ever to a potential MVP candidate is straight comedy. It also furthers the narrative of the national media not knowing how to cover Roethlisberger. I think any sane Steelers fans would still place Roethlisberger into the conversation of good-to-great NFL quarterbacks stopping short of league MVP talk, but the constant bashing makes almost no sense.

Sure, the Steelers fell apart last year down the stretch. The offense was also terrible, so was the play calling, the offensive line was old and banged up, and the Steelers couldn’t run the ball or run play fakes to save their lives. But the Steelers still managed to win 12 games! As I've been trying to say all offseason there’s no possible way this offense is nearly as bad as it was last year.

Could Ben Roethlisberger win NFL MVP? Probably not. Why, you might ask? Well if we learned anything this offseason it’s that Big Ben is anything but a media darling, and guess who the voters are...

The one thing Ben has on his side is that everyone is already counting the Steelers out. A convincing AFC North title win with the schedule the Steelers are facing might endear him to voters. But again, Roethlisberger would need to stand head and shoulders above his contemporaries to have the slightest hope at the trophy.

But what do you think? What do you think of the up-and-down narrative national outlets have toward Ben Roethlisberger? Let us know your thoughts in the comments below.