–Quarterback Ben Roethlisberger criticized two of his receivers for mistakes they made in the 24-17 loss in Denver. Roethlisberger said on his radio show that Antonio Brown did not run his route correctly when Roethlisberger threw a late-game interception that ended any hopes for a comeback victory. He also was critical of rookie James Washington for his crucial drop earlier in the game.
Roethlisberger did not back down from the comments Wednesday morning. He believes he has earned the right to call out teammates when he feels it is necessary.
“Being around for a long time and dealing with a lot of different players you have to know how to motivate different guys in different ways,” Roethlisberger said. “I think that’s part of being a leader, being a captain, just understanding players. Sometimes you just grab them off to the side and sometimes you have to be honest with them. I think I’ve earned the right to be able to do that with as long as I’ve been here. I’ll be just as critical on myself in front of you guys as well.”
–The Steelers have one of the most lopsided pass-run ratios in the league. They throw the ball 66.7 percent of the time. Only Atlanta (66.9) throws it more. But head coach Mike Tomlin is not overly concerned with the perceived lack of balance within his offensive attack.
“We want to have the ability to step into a stadium and dictate our personality that day,” Tomlin said. “Sometimes we’ll come into a stadium and be run-heavy. Sometimes we’ll come into a stadium and be capable of throwing it every down. It’s how we choose to attack. We’re thoughtfully non-rhythmic in that regard. We strike for balance, being capable of attacking in the ways that we choose. I think that makes it tough on defenses. I think that makes us a tough unit to beat. We’ll go through games where we’ll throw it a lot like we did last week, and there are positive ramifications of that for the run game. There are games where we’ve handed the ball to James and he’s carried it 30 times and subsequent games there’s maybe positive consequences in the passing game for that.
“We’re cognizant of all of that, and that’s why we don’t mind changing our personality based on game planning. But it starts with just having quality game planning and being able to do a bunch of things. We’ve got solid guys up front who are adept at run blocking and pass blocking. Ben has got a nice arsenal of receivers and James is doing a good job of running the ball. And so that’s why we work hard for balance. I think that is a continual discussion for us week in and week out in terms of how we want to choose to attack people in an effort to keep people off balance, to ring up the scoreboard and make the movement of the ball a more fluid process. At the end of the day, we’re going to have to be able to run it, we’re going to have to be able to throw it.”
–The Steelers might have a new No. 3 receiver. Ryan Switzer appears to have moved past James Washington in the pecking order. Switzer played a season-high 52 offensive snaps in Denver and also set season highs in receptions (6) and receiving yards (67).
Washington, a rookie second-round pick out of Oklahoma State, has struggled to contribute. He has just eight receptions for 77 yards and one touchdown in 10 games this season. He dropped a pass in Denver that could have gone for a touchdown.
Tomlin and quarterback Ben Roethlisberger continue to talk up the contributions of Switzer, who was acquired in a trade just before the season began. The Steelers immediately inserted Switzer as their punt and kickoff returner, but he’s become a bigger part of the offense in recent weeks.
Tomlin is not surprised that Switzer has begun to contribute on offense.
“I watched a lot of North Carolina tape,” Tomlin said. “That’s a dangerous guy. We were excited about acquiring him. He’s still got some ball ahead of him, room for growth. There’s a guy who got on a moving train, so we’re pleased with his contributions, but we’re also sensitive to he got on a moving train. He’s sensitive to he got on a moving train. I think he’s working extremely hard day in and day out to catch up, to get the nuances, the things that are going to allow him to be a continuing contributor to our efforts.”
BY THE NUMBERS: 4 – Number of touchdown passes of 90 yards or more by Ben Roethlisberger, the only player in NFL history to do that. Roethlisberger has two 97-yard touchdown passes to JuJu Smith-Schuster. He also threw a 94-yarder to Martavis Bryant and a 95-yarder to Mike Wallace.
