Ben Roethlisberger Throws Receiver Under the Bus over Crucial Play
Pittsburgh Steelers quarterback Ben Roethlisberger has been taking some heat for the horribly ill-advised interception he threw in the end zone in the waning moments of the Steelers 24-17 loss to the Broncos on Sunday.
From the Broncos’ two-yard line, he just lobbed it into traffic and was picked off by the Broncos’ Shelby Harris.
The turnover on the third-and-goal play essentially end the game.
Interception in the endzone by Shelby Harris to save the game for Denver! #PITvsDEN pic.twitter.com/kmJB4cP2ER
— Sports Daily (@SportsDGI) November 26, 2018
But, perhaps to deflect from his own mistake, Roethlisberger used an interview this week to call out one of his receivers, rookie James Washington, for a blunder he made earlier in the game.
The play in question happened with 4:40 left in the third quarter. The Steelers had the ball on their own 41 when Roethlisberger lobbed a perfect pass to a streaking Washington down the right sideline.
Washington dove for it when it appeared he really didn’t need to, and in doing so, he dropped the ball as he landed hard on the turf at the Broncos 22 yard line. It was ruled an incomplete pass and Pittsburgh punted two plays later. The score was tied 17-17 at the time.
Would have been INSANE. pic.twitter.com/d8w93oixoc
— The Checkdown (@thecheckdown) November 25, 2018
On his weekly appearance on KDKA-FM in Pittsburgh on Tuesday, Roethlisberger called out the rookie for the drop.
“He has to make it,” Roethlisberger said, reported the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review. “I just think he didn’t trust his hands. For some reason, he jump/dove. I’m not really sure what he was doing. We look at it (on film), and coach got on him pretty good yesterday.
“We took a long, hard look at it. James needs to run through that, and it’s a touchdown,” Roethlisberger added. “Yes, he’s a rookie, but you’re not going to be out there if you‘re not going to make those plays for us,” Roethlisberger said.
Big Ben calling James Washington out for dropping the pass Sunday but two goal line ints… Look in the mirror bro…
— Chris Clark Sr. (@cmclarksr) November 28, 2018
Roethlisberger is not wrong here, Washington does need to make that catch. But considering that Roethlisberger threw one of the worst red zone interceptions seen in the league this year, Washington’s gaffe pales in comparison.
Roethlisberger was asked about that game-ending interception on the radio show and said he wished he could have that play back.
“We came back on third down, and I wanted to even go back to the same play [as on first down]. I was gonna throw it to Juju (Smith-Schuster) again. I think we should have went to him four straight plays,” Roethlisberger said.
As for Washington, Roethlisberger said he needs to have more confidence in himself.
“When you have trust and confidence in yourself, you use your hands and you catch the ball. I felt like when he jumped and dove, whatever you want to call it, it showed a lack of confidence in himself and his hands,” Roethlisberger said. “I have confidence in him. I wouldn’t have thrown it to him if I didn’t.”
Pittsburgh dropped to 7-3-1 with the loss. The Steelers host 8-3 San Diego next week in a game that has huge ramifications for the playoff seedings in the AFC.
Truth and Accuracy
We are committed to truth and accuracy in all of our journalism. Read our editorial standards.
Advertise with The Western Journal and reach millions of highly engaged readers, while supporting our work. Advertise Today.
