Ben Roethlisberger had a fine afternoon against the Dolphins, doing his part to help the Steelers to an easy 30-12 wild-card playoff win. But for reasons that seemed curious at the time and even more so now in light of this latest development, Roethlisberger, Le'Veon Bell and Antonio Brown were all in the game late into the fourth quarter even though the game had long been decided.
Ben Roethlisberger wearing a walking boot after game. Injured foot on his last throw -- an interception -- when he had no business throwing.
— Gerry Dulac (@gerrydulac) January 8, 2017
Good news: Roethlisberger promises to play!
Bad news: It didn't have to happen. You could make the argument that backup Landry Jones should have been in for the final 15 minutes but on three occasions -- at the 11:24 mark, the 5:57 mark and the 15-second mark, Big Ben was out there.
It seems instructive to mention this:
Is Mike Tomlin aware of what happened to Derek Carr, and what subsequently happened to the Raiders? Why are Ben, Brown and Bell still in?
— Michael David Smith (@MichaelDavSmith) January 8, 2017
And while Roethlisberger says he'll play next Sunday against the Chiefs, if he's not 100 percent there's no one to blame but the coaching staff.
Ben will play next week, I don't know how impacted he'll be, but this is why continuing to play your stars in games that are over is idiotic
— Jon Ledyard (@LedyardNFLDraft) January 8, 2017
Or as our colleague John Breech said more bluntly to us during the fourth quarter, "If Ben, Brown or Bell gets hurt, Tomlin should be fired."
Terry Bradshaw would no doubt love that.
