QB Ben Roethlisberger - Pittsburgh Steelers

6-5, 241

Born: 3-2-1982

College: Miami (OH)

Drafted: Round 1, pick 2004

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Photo: Isaiah J. Downing, US Presswire

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Week 14: at Oakland Raiders

All QB vs OAK

FBG says: Good matchup. Ben Roethlisberger continues to walk the line between mediocre real-life play and big fantasy results. He hasn't been sharp of late, throwing 6 interceptions and producing just 7.1 yards per attempt over the last 3 weeks. He's missed on a few key throws, and his turnovers have been back-breakers. But fantasy players have appreciated the massive volume (148 attempts) and yardage outputs (314, 462, and 281) over that span. Roethlisberger has followed game flow and aired the ball out constantly, and with his duo of world-class receivers, it's resulted in plenty of fantasy production. Antonio Brown (86 yards a game and 12 touchdowns) remains the league's toughest all-around cover, winning consistently in the slot, at the sidelines, and down the field. Brown is a matchup-proof superstar, burning the top-tier secondaries of the Jaguars (117 yards and 1 score) and Chargers (154 and 1) this month. On the other side, JuJu Smith-Schuster is averaging 6.9 catches and 92 yards a game of his own. He's dominating all comers, both outside and in the slot, and has outproduced Brown by every measure except touchdowns. There's also occasional noise from situational guys like Vance McDonald and Ryan Switzer, but the bulk of this high-octane unit's production winds up in the hands of Brown and Smith-Schuster. Both are easy WR1s in fantasy, and Roethlisberger is always an upper-tier QB1 regardless of matchup or script. You'd never know it from the box scores, but the Raiders pass defense has been quite possibly the league's worst here in 2018. They're allowing more net yards per attempt (8.2) and touchdowns (2.4 per game) than anyone, after all. But the 2-10 Raiders' typical game flow lets opposing teams stop passing early before big yardage is allowed. Still, this is a fully targetable unit for opposing fantasy options. There's almost no pass rush in play here, and the constantly-juggled secondary has struggled to cover anyone. The cornerbacks are inconsistent at best, and the safeties frequently misplay throws down the seams. Tight ends, in particular, have dominated this matchup, with 4 different guys topping 70 yards over the last 6 weeks. This is a defense that the only reason they have not given up more yardage against the pass is due to their run defense being so poor.

Recent Stats and Projections

WEEK	OPP		oSNAP	CMP	ATT	YD	TD	INT	RSH	YD	TD	FumL	Pts
10	vs CAR		50	22	25	328	5	0	3	27	0	0	38.1
11	at JAX		65	27	47	314	2	3	2	1	1	0	26.8
12	at DEN		78	41	56	462	1	2	2	18	0	0	26.9
13	vs LAC		68	29	45	281	2	1	0	0	0	0	21.05
14	at OAK		0	25	29	282	2	0	0	0	0	0	22.1
14	at OAK	PROJ-Dodds	*	26	39	*	*	*	2	*	*	*	*
14	at OAK	PROJ-Tremblay	*	27	42	*	*	*	2	*	*	*	*
14	at OAK	PROJ-Bloom	*	24	33	*	*	*	2	*	*	*	*

Weekly Performance vs QB 1, QB 12, QB 24

Percentile ranks

Ben Roethlisberger's percentile rank in each category, among QB with more than 50 fantasy points.

Recent Game Summaries

2018 Week 13 vs LAC (29 / 45 / 281 / 2 / 1 pass, 0 / 0 / 0 rush)

For a majority of the game Roethlisberger enjoyed strong offensive line play on passing downs against the ferocious pass-rush of the L.A. Chargers. The problems came when Roethlisberger was being deceived in coverage. Roethlisberger's worst play came in the second quarter. Roethlisberger saw his tight end streaking down the field and thought he had him for an easy touchdown. Roethlisberger underthrew the ball and Drewin James grabbed the easy interception. Roethlisberger's best throw of the game came right before the half. The ball was snapped, and the pressure was surrounding Roethlisberger. He slid to his left in the pocket and stepped into a rope down the middle of the field to Antonio Brown perfectly on target. In the second half, the Steelers were not able to sustain drives and were held scoreless in the third quarter. It wasn't until the Steelers final possession of the game that Roethlisberger was finally able to drive the offense down the field.

2018 Week 12 vs DEN (41 / 56 / 462 / 1 / 2 pass, 2 / 18 / 0 rush)

This was the tale of two halves for Roethlisberger. In the first half, Roethlisberger was completing distributing the ball all over the field accurately and keeping all of his receivers involved. Roethlisberger had a play in the first half where his receivers were completely covered downfield. He moved well within the pocket and pump faked the ball three or four times which allowed JuJu Smith-Schuster to shake loose from his coverage for a completion. Roethlisberger finished the first half of the game with 25 completed pass attempts. Things were even great starting the second half. Even with turnovers by other players, Roethlisberger was keeping his team in the game with his mobility within the pocket. Things changed quickly for Roethlisberger after his 97-yard strike to JuJu Smith-Schuster. Roethlisberger was knocked down on the play and went back to the locker room for further evaluation. Roethlisberger came back before the next series started and proceeded to throw an interception, his second worst pass of the day. Roethlisberger overthrew his receiver, stood flatfooted, and did not put any velocity on the pass. Roethlisbergers worst pass attempt came on his last attempt of the game with the Steelers only down seven points. Roethlisberger led his team down to the two-yard line and were poised to send the game into overtime. Roethlisberger bobbled the snap, pulled the ball back on an RPO when it could have been punched in for a TD by Conner, and threw a ball in the middle of the field which was intercepted by a defensive lineman. Roethlisberger didnt see the lineman drop into coverage and the ball would have likely been intercepted by the defender covering Brown if it wasnt intercepted by the lineman. The entire last play was broken from the start.

2018 Week 11 vs JAX (27 / 47 / 314 / 2 / 3 pass, 2 / 1 / 1 rush)

There was no point during the first half where Ben Roethlisberger had the opportunity to get into a rhythm. It didn't help how well the Jaguars defenders were at catching his passes. One big difference in Week 11 versus previous weeks was the initial offensive game plan. Generally, the offense gives Ben Roethlisberger the opportunity to throw easy passes (wide receiver screens/hitches and running back check downs). The Jaguars were ready for Roethlisberger early and didn't even allow Ben Roethlisberger to convert a quarterback sneak to keep their first drive of the game alive. The game only turned worse from there for Ben Roethlisberger with three interceptions. Roethlisberger's first interception came in the second quarter when he was trying to hit Antonio Brown in the deep middle of the field. Unfortunately, Jalen Ramsey, who blanketed Brown all day, made a great play on a ball Roethlisberger underthrew. Two possessions later Roethlisberger rolled out to his right and forced a ball to Antonio Brown. Again, Roethlisberger's inaccuracy, this time on an overthrow, bit the Steelers. Brown was being double covered, and Roethlisberger's pass was easily intercepted. Things almost got worse to start the fourth quarter with Roethlisberger throwing another interception. This interception was called back due to a roughing the passer penalty, which was a terrible call. Roethlisberger's final interception came with the Steelers already down nine points. Roethlisberger, again, forced the ball to Antonio Brown in the end zone while being covered by Jalen Ramsey. Ramsey broke up the pass by staying in Brown's back pocket and made a juggling catch for an interception. Late in the third quarter Roethlisberger had his longest, and easies, pass of the day to Antonio Brown on a broken coverage deep for a 78-yard pass play. Things really got exciting for with about three minutes left in the fourth quarter and down ten points. Roethlisberger threw his best pass of the day, a back-shoulder pass, to JuJu Smith-Schuster to convert a second and short but picked up a large chunk of yards and would bring the Steelers within three points of tying. On the final drive of the game, Roethlisberger drove the offense down the field on seven plays for 68 yards. On the last touch of the game Roethlisberger lunged and barely scored a touchdown by reaching the football out.

2018 Week 10 vs CAR (22 / 25 / 328 / 5 / 0 pass, 3 / 27 / 0 rush)

This may have been Ben Roethlisberger's best game of his entire career. He had more touchdowns than completions and finished the contest with a perfect passer rating. Roethlisberger's first incompletion of the game came after going 8/9 passing through his first three possessions. Roethlisberger's game started off with a perfect throw to JuJu Smith-Schuster. After dropping back to pass Roethlisberger pump faked and froze the defender covering Smith-Schuster. Roethlisberger's delivered a pinpoint pass to Smith-Schuster, allowing his wide receiver to not break his stride and score a touchdown. Roethlisberger was getting everyone involved through the entire contest, even the full back Roosevelt Nix, and showing trust in Ryan Switzer to convert two tough third downs. Roethlisberger's second deep touchdown of the game was to Antonio Brown. Brown had a step on his defender and Roethlisberger again threw a perfect ball over the defender which dropped right into Antonio Brown's hands. The hits only kept coming for Roethlisberger. In the third quarter, after a special teams turnover for the Panthers, when the Steelers were in the red zone, Roethlisberger looks off the safety and checks down to Jaylen Samuels who leaps into the endzone for a touchdown.

2018 Week 9 vs BAL (28 / 47 / 270 / 2 / 0 pass, 2 / 4 / 1 rush)

Coming into the game there were concerns with Roethlisberger's fractured left index finger and how it would impact his play. Fortunately, it was the left hand of Roethlisberger and he didn't show signs of slowing down. In fact, the Steelers appeared to be opting for high percentage throws for Roethlisberger and allowing his playmakers to do the work. For example, one both of Roethlisberger's touchdown passes he hit his pass-catchers at, or before, the line of scrimmage and allowed them both to do the rest of the work. Roethlisberger and the Steelers offense were also getting away with mistakes all day. In the second quarter, Roethlisberger almost threw an interception in the endzone when he was trying to force the ball to Antonio Brown. Also, in the second quarter, Roethlisberger threw a pass to Conner out of the backfield and was almost picked off when it bounced off Conner's hands. The best, and smartest, play of Ben Roethlisberger's day came on the last play of the Steelers' last series. The game was within seven points and Ben Roethlisberger opted to not throw the ball and took a sack. Taking the sack and not throwing a possible incomplete pass allowed the clock to continue to tick down on the Ravens. Luckily, Roethlisberger made it out of the game healthy. In the second half Roethlisberger landed awkwardly on his shoulder and came out of the game for one play. Roethlisberger came right back in and promptly dropped a dime deep to tight end Jesse James.

2018 Week 8 vs CLE (24 / 36 / 257 / 2 / 1 pass, 2 / 6 / 0 rush)

From the start of the game it was apparent the Steelers wanted to give Roethlisberger easy throws. Roethlisberger's first three throws were either wide receiver screen passes or a pass to Vance McDonald out of the backfield. Everything was short and close to the line of scrimmage. When Roethlisberger did take his first shot further downfield he forced a ball to JuJu Smith-Schuster and was intercepted. After starting slow in the first quarter Roethlisberger was able to get the offense moving in the second quarter. You could see the offense was starting to click between Roethlisberger before his first touchdown pass. He hit Brown three out of four times throwing on the drive. On the touchdown pass to Antonio Brown, Ben Roethlisberger pump faked and froze the safety in the middle of the field. This prevented the defender from helping over the top and for Brown to easily get behind his defender. On Roethlisberger's second touchdown drive all the receiving weapons were working for the Steelers. Roethlisberger delivered an accurate ball on a back shoulder throw to JuJu Smith-Schuster after resetting his feet and hit JuJu Smith-Schuster on a fourth down over the middle for a big conversion to keep the drive alive. Roethlisberger was able to finish the drive by putting the ball into Antonio Brown's hands quickly on a perfectly placed wide receiver screen. Roethlisberger finished the first half of the game on fire going nine for nine.

2018 Week 6 vs CIN (32 / 46 / 369 / 1 / 0 pass, 1 / -1 / 0 rush)

It took Roethlisberger almost the entire first quarter to find his rhythm and pass the ball to one of his receivers. In fact, Roethlisberger did not complete a pass to a wide receiver the Steelers third possession and Roethlisberger's ninth pass attempt. Things picked up quickly for Roethlisberger after hitting Antonio Brown for the first time. Ben's best throw of the game went to JuJu Smith-Schuster on what looked like a touchdown but was called down at the one-yard line.

2018 Week 5 vs ATL (19 / 29 / 250 / 3 / 1 pass, 2 / 16 / 0 rush)

This is Roethlisberger's lowest attempt game of the season and you could see the lower attempts came from a combination of hitting on longer pass plays and having balance to the offense. Early on Roethlisberger relied on James Conner to be the team's offense. Bringing the defense closer to the line of scrimmage. As soon as the Falcons defense crept up Roethlisberger was able to attack deep. Roethlisberger allowed JuJu Smith-Schuster to make a high-point play for a touchdown early and Ben's best pass of the season to Antonio Brown came off of a nine route where Ben hit Brown in stride for a touchdown. Overall, Roethlisberger was able to hit on two of five attempts traveling 20+ yards for two touchdowns. This is exactly the type of efficient downfield game we are used to from Ben Roethlisberger and hopefully the WiFi connection between him and Brown is fixed.

2018 Week 4 vs BAL (27 / 47 / 274 / 1 / 1 pass, 1 / -1 / 0 rush)

Starting the game there wasn't much open down the field for Ben Roethlisberger. The Ravens were playing a lot of zone coverage. Roethlisberger and the Steelers offense looked to be finding the holes in the second quarter with a big play to Vance McDonald and a well thrown jump ball touchdown to Antonio Brown to tie the game. In the second half the Ravens seemed to have Roethlisberger and crew's number. They were disrupting his timing just enough to take away his top options in the second half and cause two of Roethlisberger's signature pump fakes to be thrown to the ground.

2018 Week 3 vs TB (30 / 38 / 353 / 3 / 1 pass, 4 / -1 / 0 rush)

Roethlisberger started Week 3 slowly. His first possession ended with a three and out and his second possession ended on an interception was picked off. The rest of the first half Roethlisberger was on target. Ben Roethlisberger finished the two-minute drill 8-9 for 74 yards and a touchdown. The scoring drive was capped by a short pass to Ryan Switzer. After half time Roethlisberger only had 13 more pass attempts and struggled to sustain drives. At the end of the day the stats look good, but Ben is still missing his on deep targets (1-4 on targets of 30-yards or more).

2018 Week 2 vs KC (39 / 60 / 452 / 3 / 0 pass, 2 / 9 / 1 rush)

Roethlisberger came into the game with an elbow injury and wore a sleeve on his right arm for protection. Ben Roethlisberger did not only need protection for his arm, but he also needed extra protection with his right guard, David DeCastro, out for the game. DeCastro's absence was felt throughout the game and Roethlisberger was moved off his spot and forced to make plays on his own. With their backs against the wall Roethlisberger almost turned the ball over again if it weren't for a holding penalty that negated the play. Through the first half of the game Roethlisberger had over 30 pass attempts, and the Steelers were using the short passing game to supplement the run and was efficient. At one point, Roethlisberger as 9-9 before missing James Washington on a deep end zone target. Ben Roethlisberger wasn't off target through the game, but he had miscommunications with his receivers and was putting more velocity on his throws than Week 1. With the Steelers down by two scores, Roethlisberger rushed for a touchdown with two minutes left in the game.

2018 Week 1 vs CLE (23 / 41 / 335 / 1 / 3 pass, 3 / 16 / 0 rush)

The new look slimmer Ben Roethlisberger struggled early. His first interception was thrown into heavy coverage, interception two came on a miss-fire to Antonio Brown, and his third came when the Steelers were driving on the Browns. Unfortunately, this was only in the first half. In the second half things didn't get better. Roethlisberger added a fumble in the fourth-quarter and another interception that looked like an interception during overtime. Roethlisberger displayed his signature escapability on a 15-yard run and his uncanny ability to find Antonio Brown for a touchdown, even in double coverage. The elements were largely to blame for such a bad start to Ben's season.

Latest News

Steelers | Big Ben expects to play in Week 15 (Sun Dec 9, 10:51 PM) - Pittsburgh Steelers QB Ben Roethlisberger (ribs) completed 25-of-29 passes for 282 yards, two touchdowns and no interceptions in the Week 14 game against the Oakland Raiders, but he exited early due to a rib injury. He said after the game that he expects to start in Week 15.

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Steelers | Ben Roethlisberger throws for two scores in loss (Mon Dec 3, 01:11 AM) - Pittsburgh Steelers QB Ben Roethlisberger completed 29 of 45 passes for 281 yards, 2 TDs and 1 INT during the team's Week 13 loss to the Los Angeles Chargers.

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Steelers | Full practice for Ben Roethlisberger (Fri Nov 30, 04:13 PM) - Pittsburgh Steelers QB Ben Roethlisberger (non-injury) fully participated in practice Friday, Nov. 30, and is not on the injury report for Week 13.

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Steelers | Ben Roethlisberger back on the field (Thu Nov 29, 04:14 PM) - Pittsburgh Steelers QB Ben Roethlisberger (non-injury) fully participated in practice Thursday, Nov. 29.

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Steelers | Ben Roethlisberger given day off (Wed Nov 28, 04:22 PM) - Pittsburgh Steelers QB Ben Roethlisberger (rest) did not practice Wednesday, Nov. 28.

Our View: Just a day off for Big Ben here....as per usual on Wednesday.
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