What Cleveland Browns fans should look for when Steelers play Buffalo
Doubts whether a 38-year-old bionic elbow is good for 50 lobs a game
First of all, there are no secret sources being claimed about Roethlisberger’s health, other than the internet and NFL Gamepass. But watch the replay of the last game between the Steelers and the Washington Fubar Team. Ben and his elbow put the Ball up 53 times.
Did you watch at the end of the game when it was Hail Mary time? They had two shots at pulling off a miracle with just seconds left after Washington booted a field goal to go up by six yards. So, standing at about the 17, Big Ben heaved the ball to Chase Claypool at about the Washington 45, about 40 yards. The second pass was even shorter. In the old days, Roethlisberger would have thrown the ball 70 yards in the air. Was anybody else shocked by the modest distance of these throws?
The Steelers’ running game has just not been there to allow Roethlisberger to hand the ball off, since putting the Cowboys to bed (it is really pathetic not to be able to run against the Cowboys), Roethlisberger’s pass attempts have numbered as follows: 45, 46, 46, 51 and 53. That exceeds the OEM warranty requirements on that bionic elbow for sure.
On Fox Sports Radio’s Straight Outta Vegas, veteran handicapper R.J. Bell has been mindful that the Steelers have not had a true bye week all season but has still questioned why Buffalo should be favored after one lackluster Steeler performance against Washington. A possible answer is that the oddsmakers have observed the same apparent tiredness in Roethlisberger’s arm, and question whether six day’s rest is enough to bring it back, especially if the plan is the put the ball up 50 times versus Buffalo.
We shall see, but the suspicion is that the elbow and lack of a running game are the reasons for the Bills being slightly favored in Sunday night’s contest. Remember, home-field advantage is only worth about a point this season because of the smaller crowd size.
Roethlisberger is still big, strong, motivated, intelligent, and deadly accurate. The only question is whether that elbow is going to allow him to perform at the same high level at this point of the season and beyond. Maybe then he is fine, and he will sling the ball fifty yards downfield against Buffalo Sunday night. Perhaps the return of halfback James Conner will reduce his workload and allow him to become much more effective. But if not, if he is limited to the dink and dunk, that is going to allow opponents to play much closer to the line of scrimmage with tighter coverages and extra pass rushers.
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