Ben Roethlisberger: Playing Injured Made Big Ben a Target Against 49ers

Ben Roethlisberger has asserted that the San Francisco 49ers targeted his injured left ankle in Week 15, but the honest truth is that Big Ben had no business being in that game in the first place.

USA Today reported the story after Roethlisberger appeared on The Dan Patrick Show:

"

I think when we played San Fran, I felt like there were some things going on, some extra. Now, obviously, I did have the ankle and I was playing, so there was kind of a bulls-eye on there anyway. 

But this whole bounty thing—I don't know if I'd sit there and and say, "Wow, that guy really tried to end my career." Honestly, I don't know.

"

For Big Ben to even begin to assert that the 49ers might have tried to end his career is ludicrous. He's the one who was out there hobbling around, unable to hardly walk, let alone run from the pass rush of the 49ers.

There is no doubt that players go for the jugular when they sense any weakness in their opponents. The 49ers were definitely trying to take advantage of Roethlisberger's weakened state and attacked him without mercy.

That being said, they didn't use sinister tactics to try and take him out of the game. 

ESPN's Mike Sando—one of the best bloggers in the business—took a look at every snap Roethlisberger played in that night to see whether or not there was any evidence that the 49ers tried to injure Big Ben. His conclusion:

"

The stats crew credited the 49ers with eight quarterback hits. Most were straightforward. Defenders were not twisting Roethlisberger's lower body, rolling over onto his sore ankle or stepping on him blatantly. 

Bowman specifically had an opportunity to fall on Roethlisberger on the Steelers' final play, but he did not.

"

I am a 49ers fan, so many of you are going to assume I'm biased in my opinion.

I must say I completely agree with Sando. The 49ers do not intentionally try to hurt their opponents. They are one of the classiest franchises in the NFL, and Roethlisberger should know better than to smear them like this.

Roethlisberger should have never entered the lineup on that night. He couldn't move, he couldn't really get anything on his throws and he made himself a target for getting blasted by playing in his condition.

He made himself a target. Any perceived extra hits he took are all on him. It was his decision to play in such a weakened state, and the 49ers should be exonerated by him as publicly as his assertion that they tried to target his ankle. 

Follow @JesseReed78