Ben Roethlisberger, now retired, has no problem criticizing his former team. The two-time Super Bowl champion showed no signs of weakness after the Pittsburgh Steelers were defeated by the New England Patriots, 21-18.
“Perhaps the Pittsburgh Steelers’ legacy is over,” he said on Monday’s episode of “Footbahlin with Ben Roethlisberger.”
The 41-year-old had several gripes about the team’s Week 14 loss. He started by analyzing the team’s attempt to rally in the second half without using any timeouts.
From 2004 to 2021, Roethlisberger played for Steelers head coach Mike Tomlin before retiring in 2022. Despite their previous relationship, Roethlisberger continued to pursue Tomlin.
“You can’t afford in the second half of games to burn silly timeouts and to not have them late in the game,” Roethlisberger stated. “To me, that’s bad coaching.”
He continued by providing his personal opinion on how the match ought to have been run:
Roethlisberger is unfamiliar with the Steelers’ present situation. In his eighteen seasons with Pittsburgh, he never had a losing season and was a part of three Super Bowls. After last week’s game and another loss to the Arizona Cardinals, the Steelers are currently 7-6.
Pittsburgh’s team has been displaying a lot of verbal and physical fury both on and off the field, despite their offensive struggles. It appears that Roethlisberger believes the problem stems from a lack of leadership in the Steelers’ locker room.
Safety and All-Pro Minkah Fitzpatrick has voiced his dissatisfaction with the Steelers’ performance this season. Following a defeat to the Cleveland Browns, he reportedly got into a violent confrontation with teammate Diontae Johnson before telling teammates to “look in the mirror” following the game. Johnson had to confront his seeming lack of effort during a game against the Cincinnati Bengals.
On Monday, Mike Tomlin acknowledged that George Pickens, the wide receiver, had developed “a problem” due to his obvious dissatisfaction on the field. There’s a lot of stuff that goes around that you guys don’t see, running back Najee Harris said in a derogatory statement about the offense last month. I’m really sick of this s*** at this point.”
After defensive end Cam Heyward took offense, quarterback Ben Roethlisberger later withdrew his previous statement that younger Steelers players were “coddled” during the previous season. It’s probable that Roethlisberger’s most recent remarks will elicit a comparable response.
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