Written by Chris Burke at SI.com
In the wake of the news that QB Ben Roethlisberger needs surgery on his torn left meniscus, the Steelers have two options. Glass half full? Their bye week is coming in Week 8. Injury analyst Jene Bramel of FootballGuys writes that if the meniscus can be removed, Roethlisberger’s timetable would sit him down only for two to four weeks.
Glass half empty? This is a terrible time for Roethlisberger to be on the sideline. The Steelers are coming off an awful loss in Miami, the red-hot Patriots visit on Sunday, and they face Baltimore and Dallas in Weeks 9 and 10, respectively.
Of course, there’s never a good time for the Steelers to lose Big Ben. Their offense is built around what he can do in the pocket and out of it. He leads the league in passing TDs this season (16) after pacing all QBs in yards per game the past two years (328.2 in 2015).
The run game became the focal point during Roethlisberger’s 2015 absence—the Steelers topped 140 yards in each of the four games he missed and averaged 152.5 yards across all those weeks. So, expect even more of the Le’Veon Bell/DeAngelo Williams combo against New England.
If there is a silver lining in Roethlisberger’s injury, perhaps it’s in the backfield. The Steelers have running backs who can take over, but they also could stand to increase their output on the ground as it is. Bell only saw 10 rushing attempts in the loss to Miami; the week prior, the Jets held Pittsburgh to 61 yards on 24 carries. Even on a third-and-one near midfield Sunday, with Roethlisberger having his injured knee checked in the locker room, the Steelers opted to let Jones throw—he fired incomplete, Pittsburgh punted and Miami marched for a go-ahead TD before halftime.
“No need to sugarcoat it,” coach Mike Tomlin said after the 30–15 loss. “We got beat soundly.”
Jones came off the bench in Week 6 last year to help Pittsburgh beat Arizona, thanks mainly to an 88-yard, catch-and-run TD from the now-suspended Martavis Bryant. He bombed in his two starts, though, the first a 23–13 loss to Kansas City in which Jones finished 16 of 29 for 209 yards, one TD and two interceptions. He was pulled early in start No. 2, in favor of a hobbled Roethlisberger.
All three of Jones’s touchdown passes last season found Bryant, whom he will not have available as he takes the reins this time. Jones targeted Bryant and Antonio Brown eight times each vs. the Chiefs, with Brown producing 125 yards.
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