Roethlisberger hideous in 9-0 loss to Jaguars
Ben Roethlisberger looked like a deer in headlights against the Jags who were blitzing and hitting him all game. He used to be a tough guy, but he looked softer than a roll of Charmin last night. Charlie Batch should have played, but hindsight is always 20/20. Roethlisberger completed 17 of 32 passes (53.1%) for 141 yards and 2 pick-offs. The Jags totally stuffed the vaunted Steeler running game, holding Willie Parker to 20 yards on 11 carries (1.8 ypc). RB Verron Haynes caught 5 passes for 26 yards. WR Hines Ward also looked soft after the Jags jacked him up on a couple of plays early in the game. Ward caught 2 passes for 29 yards.
The Steelers only gave up 9 points, but the Jags were moving the ball well all night against their defense. The Jags ran for 110 yards, but only 3.7 yards per carry. The Steelers allowed the Jaguars to complete 66.7% of their passes for 252 net yards thru the air. S Troy Polamalu might have had his worst game as a Steeler as he was missing alot of tackles.
The Steelers better right the ship now, because they can’t afford a loss to the Bengals next week.
After the Miami game, I thought that Charlie Batch should have started the game against the Jags. Not because he was impressive in the win (which he was), but because Ben hadn’t practiced or played very much leading up to the game. Had Ben practiced for a whole week, it would have been a different story. I would have liked to see Ben come in during the fourth quarter of the Jags game and started against the Bengals.
Excuses are for losers. If “Gentle Ben” wasn’t ready to play, he should have told the coach. And if you don’t think the Bengals have ideas of taking some cheap shots this week on BR you are sadly mistaken. The Bengals are gonna test his manhood.