Steelers Look Like Playoff Contenders Behind MVP-Worthy Season from Big Ben

These aren't your daddy's Pittsburgh Steelers. Thanks to quarterback Ben Roethlisberger, they're better.

In Week 9, the Big Ben-led Steelers defeated the Baltimore Ravens 43-23 behind 340 passing yards and six touchdowns from their quarterback. Antonio Brown was Roethlisberger's favorite receiver yet again with 144 receiving yards on 11 catches.

This, on a really rough rushing day for the team (only 55 yards on 25 carries).

The win improves the Steelers to 6-3 and puts them in second place behind the 5-2-1 Cincinnati Bengals in the AFC North.

Think back to Week 2, which was less than two months ago, though it seems like an eternity in NFL terms. In that matchup, the Ravens absolutely rolled over Pittsburgh, 26-6, thanks to a physical toughness and dominance that made the Steelers look old, haggard and washed up.

The Ravens have dealt with some injuries to their offensive line but got their personnel back on Sunday night and could have ended this game before it really got rolling.

Big plays from Big Ben didn't allow that to happen.

For those keeping track at home, this was more of the same from the Steelers QB.

In the past two games, Roethlisberger has completed 75.6 percent of his passes for 862 yards and 12 touchdowns with no interceptions. It's an insane run that must be appreciated, regardless of whether or not he comes back to earth anytime soon.

Frankly, with the New York Jets and Tennessee Titans coming up on the schedule, he might be able to continue this for a while.

For a reference point: Titans quarterback Jake Locker played in four games this season and could only muster 764 yards and four touchdowns. Philadelphia Eagles quarterback Nick Foles was knocked out of Sunday's game but has played in eight games this season and has only thrown 13 touchdowns.

"

Half the starting QBs in the league have fewer TDs this season than Roethlisberger has the last 2 weeks.

— Chris Wesseling (@ChrisWesseling) November 3, 2014"

Putting it into further perspective, ESPN Stats & Info laid it out this way:

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Steelers quarterback Ben Roethlisberger threw for six touchdowns for the second straight week. The Elias Sports Bureau notes that he’s the first quarterback to throw 12 touchdown passes in a two-week span.

Roethlisberger joined Y.A. Tittle (1962) as the only quarterbacks with a pair of games with at least six touchdown passes in the same season.

The only quarterback with more games with at least six touchdown passes in his career is Peyton Manning, with three.

"

In Vegas, they call this sort of thing "a heater."

In your local playground, some punk has already taken his ball and gone home.

Big Ben is playing absolutely out of his mind right now, and it's what's keeping the Steelers afloat while they get a lot of other things sorted out.

Weeks ago, I wrote a column pointing out how the Steelers were undergoing an identity shift. This wasn't the rough-and-tumble Steelers team of yore. It was an explosive team that could gain big yards through the air and on the ground. No more plodding for three yards and a cloud of yawns.

It wasn't the sort of team then and isn't the sort of team now to win big in the trenches.

Back in the 1990s and 2000s, that was how the Steelers buttered their bread. They won by outmuscling and outhustling their opponents rather than outrunning or outwitting them.

This isn't to say that the Steelers have never had offensive talent before...but maybe never like this?

Roethlisberger, right now, is playing like he's never wanted a Super Bowl—or an MVP award—more in his entire life. He's playing like a man possessed, and it isn't just gritty or gutty play that's getting it done.

No, he's taking over games with a level of dominance, poise and headiness that is typically reserved for people with names like Tom Brady, Peyton Manning, Drew Brees or Aaron Rodgers.

He's a top-five quarterback right now in terms of yardage, passer rating and completion percentage. He could easily extend that into top overall with a couple of good games against the aforementioned terrible competition and any sort of stumble by Indianapolis Colts quarterback Andrew Luck.

He's not doing it alone.

It's already been mentioned that Brown had a great game against the Ravens, but he's having a great game every single week. He's eclipsed 80 receiving yards in 11 straight games. No one has ever done that before.

He and Big Ben are the best big-ball connection in the NFL, with "high risk" plays becoming almost a statistical certainty given the way these two are playing at the moment.

Justin K. Aller/Getty Images

Brown is first and foremost a quick player who understands balance. He's not the speediest guy on the football field, but he does absolutely everything within the realm of possibility to create separation between himself and defenders.

Once the ball is in his hands, he becomes all the more dangerous and has consistently stayed near the top of the league in yards after catch all season long.

In addition to Brown, rookie wide receiver Martavis Bryant, second-year wide receiver Markus Wheaton and running back Le'Veon Bell have all pitched in at different times in the passing attack.

Bryant has caught five touchdowns in the only three games he's been active for this season. He said after Sunday's game, via the Associated Press recap on ESPN.com, "Everybody has to wait for their opportunity. It's just when the opportunity presents itself whether you take advantage of it or not." He's taken advantage, and it's helped give Roethlisberger and Brown a young, unproven but ridiculously explosive supporting cast with tons of potential.

Looking at the rest of the AFC North, no one else is playing this well right now.

No one else in the division has played this well all season long.

Across the conference, the Steelers are keeping pace with the New England Patriots, who are on their own incredible tear thanks to Brady, among others. The Denver Broncos and a few other teams are close, but it's more than fair to look at the Steelers right now and say, "Why not them?"

With Roethlisberger playing as well as he is right now, the Steelers appear as tough to beat as any squad in football.

Michael Schottey is an NFL National Lead Writer for Bleacher Report and an award-winning member of the Pro Football Writers of America. Find more of his stuff on his archive page and follow him on Twitter.