After missing 14 games last season due to elbow surgery, Ben Roethlisberger is back on the field and feeling good.
But he might be a tad delusional. The 38-year-old says his goal is to “win Lombardis” – as in, multiple Super Bowl titles – between now and the end of his career.
JR SportBrief wouldn’t bet on Big Ben winning even one more Super Bowl, much less two or three.
“There really isn’t any other way to say it: he’s been a crash-test dummy who’s been able to actually stay in the game even when he’s gotten his bell rung,” JR said on CBS Sports Radio. “But as you get older, as 38 turns to 39 and 39 turns to 40, I’m not going to say Ben Roethlisberger is not going to win another Super Bowl, but I wouldn’t bet on it – not with his injury history, and not with Lamar Jackson in the same division.”
Jackson, 23, took the league by storm last season, leading the Ravens to a 14-2 record and winning MVP. Roethlisberger missed both of the Steelers’ games against Baltimore.
“I’ll pay to see it. I’ll pay to watch them compete against each other,” JR said. “But I’m certainly not going to bet on Ben Roethlisberger winning two more championships, two more titles. If anything, I think the Pittsburgh Steelers need to start thinking about the future. They need to start doing what the Packers seem to be a little early in doing. Start thinking about Ben Roethlisberger’s successor. Because if Ben Roethlisberger were to unfortunately [get injured] again, no one wants to see the garbage that they had out there last season.”
Mason Rudolph led the Steelers with 1,765 passing yards, 13 touchdowns and nine interceptions. Devlin Hodges also got an opportunity, throwing for 1,063 yards, five touchdowns and eight picks. Each player was sacked 15 times.
It was ugly.
Somehow, the Steelers finished 8-8 after a 1-4 start.
“Nobody wants to see the season’s greatest hit come on Mason Rudolph’s head,” JR said. “Ben Roethlisberger says, ‘I’m trying to go out here and win two more championships. I’m trying to win three more championships. I’m trying to win Lombardi Trophies – plural.’ Do you think Ben Roethlisberger and the Pittsburgh Steelers have it in them to go ahead and win another Super Bowl while Ben is the quarterback? I would bet against it. I don’t think it’s going to happen.”