Last week, the Indianapolis Colts were coming off a dominating win against the Cincinnati Bengals. The Colts’ defense shut the Bengals offense down in week 7, and didn’t allow them to get a single score, while Colts quarterback Andrew Luck put up 27.
The Colts’ next opponent, last Sunday, was the Pittsburgh Steelers. I know the saying, “these are NFL teams, and anyone can win at any time,” but you’d figure, coming off a huge win, the Colts would stay hot. They did, but someone just happened to be a little hotter.
Steelers quarterback Ben Roethlisberger had a monstrous day against the Colts, and he showed that his team’s lack of defense wasn’t a problem for him. The Steelers gave up 34 points to Andrew Luck’s Colts — enough points that you’d think they could come out with a win.
But not when the opposing quarterback only has 9 incompletions while completing 40 of them. You read that right — Roethlisberger went 40 for 49, and threw for 522 yards against the Colts. The most impressive stat is that he was able to find the end zone six times without throwing a single interception.
The Steelers put up 51 points against the Colts, who held the Bengals to zero just a week prior. You can’t argue with a day like that. Offensive weapons like wide receiver Antonio Brown and running back Le’Veon Bell show that the Steelers are a serious threat to put up a whole lot of points.
Throughout their history, everyone has recognized the Steelers as being a hard-nosed defense — “the steel curtain,” if you will. The Steelers’ defense have terrorized the AFC North for years with players like Troy Polamalu and James Harrison — a safety and linebacker, respectively. Now, it seems like they are taking a different route, and it’s a testament to Roethlisberger’s greatness.
It kills me to say it, since I’m a Bengals fan, but I can confidently say Roethlisberger is in my top five quarterbacks in the league today. The quarterback position is one of the most stressful positions in all of sports. You’re the general on the field and not a lot of people do it better than Roethlisberger.
Even when he doesn’t have a play open down the field, you can see the man scramble outside the pocket, and as an opponent, you know that spells trouble. He’s a big man and tough to take down, and if you don’t get him down on the first hit, he’s accurate enough to hurt your team deep down the field.
In a division that the Bengals were predicted to win with ease, all four teams have records over .500 — the only division in the NFL to have such a statistic. This division is wide open, and every team in the AFC North can see that.
The Steelers got a lot of heat coming into this year because everyone thought they were going to be bad — some thought it would be a rebuilding year. It just goes to show you that if you have a quarterback that knows what they’re doing better than anyone else, you’re going to do just fine.
I know not everyone is a Bengals fan — I just dislike the guy because he’s a Steeler — but if you won’t join me in disliking him because of his team, how about because he’s a former Miami RedHawk?
Adam Wondrely is a senior studying creative writing and journalism. Who are the top five best quarterbacks in the NFL right now? Email him aw922910@ohio.edu.
