Written by Jeremy Fowler at ESPN.com
Ben Roethlisberger pointed the blame directly at himself Sunday after his five interceptions against the Jacksonville Jaguars, arguably his worst game as a Pittsburgh Steeler.
When discussing what’s holding the offense back, Roethlisberger said after the 30-9 loss, “Maybe I don’t have it anymore.”
It was more a stream-of-consciousness moment than a declaration, but the 14-year veteran clearly was affected by the brutal outing.
Roethlisberger is the first Steeler since Mark Malone in 1987 to throw five picks in a game. Roethlisberger threw multiple pick-sixes for the first time in his career since 2006. Scott Tolzien of the Colts is the only other NFL quarterback to throw two pick-sixes this year.
The last NFL quarterback to throw at least five picks and zero touchdowns was Ryan Fitzpatrick in Week 3 of 2016.
The 35-year-old said it’s difficult to pinpoint the exact problem with the Steelers’ offense, which is averaging 19.8 points per game despite loads of firepower.
Roethlisberger (33-of-55, 312 yards) said he needs to improve “everywhere,” but he points out he’s had bad stretches of play before and bounced back.
“Doing this long enough, you understand not to panic,” Roethlisberger said. “I’m not going to hit any buttons where it’s like, ‘Oh man, what do I do to change all this and that, go see people.’ Just come out on Wednesday and be ready to practice.”
A descriptor of Roethlisberger’s day came late in the fourth quarter: A 28-yard touchdown to Antonio Brown was negated by a holding penalty, and two plays later he threw a pick to Tashaun Gipson. Jaguars safety Barry Church, who ran an earlier Roethlisberger interception 51 yards for a touchdown in the third quarter, said the quarterback “would get flustered trying to make one of those miraculous Ben plays” after Jacksonville would blanket receivers in coverage.
Asked whether Roethlisberger is taking risks that he hadn’t before, coach Mike Tomlin said simply, “He’s not playing well. I’ll let him speak for it.”
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