Ben Roethlisberger's MVP Play and Candidacy Is More Than Just a Flash in the Pan

For the second week in a row, Pittsburgh Steelers quarterback Ben Roethlisberger has set a record.

First was his 522-yard passing performance in his team's 51-34 defeat of the Indianapolis Colts in Week 8, which marked the first time a quarterback has twice thrown for 500 or more yards in his career. Roethlisberger first did so in 2009.

Next was his six touchdowns thrown in the Steelers' Week 9 43-23 win over the Baltimore Ravens, making him the first quarterback to throw 12 total touchdowns in back-to-back games in NFL history.

Roethlisberger is in the midst of the best season of his 11-year career. He's also arguably having the best season of any quarterback in the league presently. If it keeps up, Roethlisberger will most certainly be a candidate for the NFL's Most Valuable Player when the season wraps. And there's no reason to believe Roethlisberger's hot streak will cool.

Of course, that doesn't mean that Roethlisberger will be throwing six touchdowns per game for the rest of the year, or that another 500-yard day is in his future. But even if he goes back to being the Roethlisberger he was before his two record-breaking weeks, it will still be enough for him to remain in the MVP discussion.

Currently, Roethlisberger has completed 231 of his 338 pass attempts, giving him a career-high completion percentage of 68.3 percent. He has thrown for 2,270 yards and 22 touchdowns to just three interceptions. He's averaging 302.2 yards per game and has a quarterback rating of 110.6.

Atts.	Comp.	Comp.%	Yds.	TD	INT	YPG	Sacks	Rating
338	231	68.3%	2,720	22	3	302.2	23	110.6

That would be the second-highest yardage total in the league, the second-best completion percentage, the second-most touchdowns, the second-fewest interceptions and the third-best passer rating. And there isn't one specific quarterback that is better than him in these metrics, across the board.

Though many of these numbers are boosted by the last two weeks, especially the 12 touchdowns and the 81.63 percent completion rate in Week 8, the games that preceded them were also quite good for Roethlisberger's bottom line.

Roethlisberger has completed 70 percent or more of his passes three times this year. He's never had a multiple-interception game. Only once was he held without a passing touchdown, and only once did he throw for fewer than 200 yards—and that game was a 37-19 rout of the Carolina Panthers. 

He's Pro Football Focus' (subscription required) top quarterback presently, and it's for more reasons than just the past two weeks. He's second in the league in their calculation of quarterback rating, which accounts for drops, throw-aways and air yards. He has the fourth-highest Accuracy Rating, which accounts for similar things. 

Stat	Value	Rank
Yards/Game	302.2	2nd
Completion %	68.3%	2nd
TDs	22	T-2nd
INTs	3	T-2nd
QB Rating	110.6	3rd

But perhaps most importantly for a quarterback of Roethlisberger's style, he's the best passer under pressure in the league. Roethlisberger's completion percentage under pressure of 69.0 percent is vastly superior to that of any other quarterback. He's used to pressure, he's used to rolling out to avoid it, and as we saw on Sunday night, even when the pressure gets to him, it doesn't rattle him for the rest of the game.

Roethlisberger was sacked three times by the Ravens defense on back-to-back-to-back plays and hit eight times in total. It wasn't until after that flurry of Baltimore pressure did Roethlisberger throw a single touchdown. The pressure does not get into his head like it does other quarterbacks, at least not this year. Of his three interceptions, none came while he was pressured.

What Roethlisberger accomplished in his last two games is just a distillation of his entire season up to this point. He's more accurate than ever, his arm has turned into a touchdown machine (helped, of course, by a strong, young receiving corps) and he is carrying the team in ways only hinted at in previous seasons.

As Roethlisberger said to Alan Robinson of the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review on Sunday night about what this all means, "It means that guys are catching touchdowns and it's fun." That's quite true—there's nothing more fun for a quarterback than to throw touchdown passes.

But for Roethlisberger, it means more than that. He's been to the Super Bowl three times, winning twice. The Steelers have been to the playoffs six times while he's been under center. He was named Rookie of the Year, but never MVP—and he never was sincerely in the running for the award.

This year, though, Roethlisberger is distinguishing himself as not just the peer of perennial MVP candidates like Peyton Manning, Tom Brady and Aaron Rodgers, but as their superior. He's composed and ready for any situation. There is no opponent or game that seems too big for him. He's a veteran in every sense of the word—he's steady, not erratic.

Year	Quarterback	Comp.%	Yds.	TD	INT
2007	Brady	68.9%	4,806	50	8
2008	P. Manning	66.8%	4,002	27	12
2009	P. Manning	68.8%	4,500	33	16
2010	Brady	65.9%	3,900	36	4
2011	Rodgers	68.3%	4,643	45	6
2013	P. Manning	68.3%	5,744	55	10

Roethlisberger's numbers, right now, also put him in the MVP discussion based on how they compare to Brady's, Manning's and Rodgers' in their MVP seasons dating back to 2007.

While some of those seasons contain mighty feats—Brady's 50 touchdowns to eight interceptions in 2007, Rodgers' 45 touchdowns to six interceptions in 2011, Manning's 5,744 passing yards and 55 touchdowns last year—for the most part, if Roethlisberger keeps it up, it will be hard to ignore him once the end-of-year awards are being handed down.

There's a lot of season left to play and a lot of things that could change for the Steelers over their final seven games. But it doesn't feel like Roethlisberger is going to slow down anytime soon. In fact, it seems more like his season was building to this point and that he'll remain on a plateau of high-level play during the crucial months of November and December, when the playoff picture takes shape. 

Roethlisberger has been pretty much everywhere the NFL can take him, except for one place—being voted the league's Most Valuable Player. His argument for winning it this year, though, is strong. He's broken records even the decorated Brady and Manning haven't touched. His numbers look comparable to other quarterback MVPs of recent years.

All Roethlisberger needs is a strong finish to his season, and he could certainly find himself winning the one thing that has eluded him in his career thus far.