Since we are in the season of Festivus, it’s only right as we prepare for that blessed night that we train ourselves for what occurs on that night. In doing so, Ben Roethlisberger isn’t wasting any time getting into the holiday spirit and airing his grievances about the Steelers’ WR core.
First it was James Washington for giving too much effort
Okay, this is a guy named James Washington. Perhaps Ben has a point because the guy he’s talking about isn’t an elite guy and it does it appear that he might of been able to run through the ball instead of making a diving catch. I’m not James Washington nor is Ben Roethlisberger. But okay, I’ll give Roethlisberger the benefit there I guess.
Surely Big Ben wouldn’t dare have any issue with the final play of the game that had him throwing an interception in the end zone right? He’ll put that on him because it was a really poor thrown ball right? RIGHT??! Here’s the play in question…
And here’s Big Ben Roethlisberger taking responsibility for the play and by responsibility I mean keeping the spirit of Festivus alive and well.
“Looking at it on film…he did undercut AB. Who knows what would have happened. That’s where I talked to AB, like ‘AB, you have to come flat. You can’t drift in the endzone because those undercuts can happen.'”
As you can plainly see, it was Antonio Brown’s fault that he didn’t run flatter on that route. He should of ran right into where all the linemen were so that he could be in better position to catch that strike from Big Ben that had serious mustard on it. No matter that a defensive linemen picked off the ball, a guy that shouldn’t of been where he was because center Maurkice Pouncey shouldn’t of drove him into the end zone like a fool as per coach Ben Roethlisberger, and that another Bronco defender was majorly inside of Brown waiting to catch the easiest INT of his career. Don’t pay attention to that all. Focus on Antonio Brown, a pretty good player, not running his route good enough.
Doubling Down
Not to be a man that walks back anything he says, Roethlisberger, when asked about going in on his teammates, let everyone know exactly why he can say what he wants about his teammates, to the entire world, not in private.
But Here’s The Thing
Roethlisberger is flat out wrong about the INT in the end zone that lost the game. Look at the play just once and anyone with a brain inside their skull can easily see that the ball never eeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeever (in my best Chris Jericho voice) be thrown there. The snap or handling of the snap threw off the timing of the play and also and this is kind of important, Antonio Brown was never open. Like not one second was Brown open. But sure, it was Brown’s fault for not running a flatter route into 10 linemen. That was the problem. Alrighty then.
Here’s The Other Thing
This isn’t the first time Roethlisberger has gone after his teammates in the media to motivate them, which is what I believe Ben believes he’s doing. It also won’t be the last time. I don’t really care that he does it. It’s not my way of motivating guys especially a team of guys that sort of have a problem of not finding themselves in the media for the wrong reasons. If Ben wants to go that route, which he clearly does, then you need to be right. That’s what this is about. Criticize all you want, just be right. Sure, you could say I have no idea what I’m talking about, that I don’t know exactly what was supposed to happen on that play. But, I’m fairly confident that pass shouldn’t of been thrown and that there was no room for Brown to run flatter.
The Holiday Spirit
Even though Roesthlisberger may be celebrating the Festivus holiday a little bit prematurely, lets just give thanks that he hasn’t lost sight of Frank Costanza’s vision. Yeah, his teammates might be a bit annoyed, but they’ll get over it when it’s time for the feats of strengths. This is just a reminder that to some Festivus isn’t just a one day holiday. It’s a life-long mentality.
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