Ben Roethlisberger Can Cement His Legacy Once and for All This Postseason

Ben Roethlisberger doesn't need my approval. He doesn't need yours, either.

He's been to the Pro Bowl a few times, won a couple of Super Bowls and chucked the football over 22 miles in the process. The Pittsburgh Steelers have won twice as often as they've lost with him under center. By this time next year, he'll have banked over $100 million.

When we start talking about the best quarterback of all time, the best of this generation or even the best of this season, though, we're slow to drop his name into the conversation. His 2014 Pro Bowl selection is just his third in 11 seasons, and he's never been a first-team All-Pro.

It's hard to put a finger on what's missing.

Maybe it's that his co-league-best 4,952 yards this season marked the first time he's topped the league in any major passing stat. Maybe it's that, unlike the Peyton Mannings and Tom Bradys of the world, Roethlisberger rarely gets through a season without missing a start or two (though he's now done so for two straight seasons).

Coach Mike Tomlin recently admitted to Mark Kaboly of the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review that he takes Roethlisberger for granted when it comes to his on-field efficiency (via NFL Network's Aditi Kinkhabwala):

For all we wax poetic about his improvisational ability, some critique him for holding the ball too long and not just executing the offense. For all the incredible games he's had in his career—like his back-to-back six-touchdown performances of 2014—he's had quite a few clunkers.

This postseason, Roethlisberger has the opportunity to remove all doubt about where he stands in the pantheon—or that he stands in the pantheon at all.

The Steelers, of course, start the playoffs with a divisional rematch against the Baltimore Ravens. The 26-6 loss in M&T Bank Stadium was Pittsburgh's, and Roethlisberger's, worst performance of the season. The rematch in Heinz Field was the polar opposite: A 340-yard, six-touchdown explosion from Roethlisberger powered the Steelers to a 43-23 blowout.

All but certainly, per NFL.com, the Steelers will take on the Ravens without the services of breakout star tailback Le'Veon Bell. Big Ben will have to beat Baltimore with his arm or not at all.

That'll be no mean feat: The Ravens have one of the NFL's fiercest pass rushes; they're tied for the second-highest sack total in the NFL (49). They'll also have Haloti Ngata, who was suspended for the last four games of the regular season. Rookie Timmy Jernigan is no slouch, but adding Ngata back to the defensive front will put even more pressure on Roethlisberger.

The good news from Pittsburgh's perspective is the Ravens have struggled with injuries in the secondary; their matchup against the Steelers' explosive wide receiver corps was named the "Biggest Mismatch" of Wild Card Weekend by Bleacher Report's NFL Lead Writers. If Roethlisberger can capitalize, the Steelers should move on to the second round.

	Comp. Rate	TD Rate	INT Rate	ANY/A	NFL Rate
Ben Roethlisberger	67.1%	5.3%	1.5%	7.82	103.3
Peyton Manning	66.2%	6.5%	2.5%	7.68	101.5
Tom Brady	64.1%	5.7%	1.5%	7.01	97.4
Joe Flacco	62.0%	4.9%	2.2%	6.65	90.9

There, they'll face Peyton Manning and the Denver Broncos.

At the halfway mark, the Broncos were the class of the NFL. But a spate of injuries and a relatively ugly stretch of games by Manning make them a little less scary than they were in October.

The bye week should help, with tight end Julius Thomas, inside linebacker Brandon Marshall and safety T.J. Ward all likely to return for the divisional round. That would be bad news for the Steelers, of course, but they might get Bell back.

In fact, the Steelers and Broncos are almost mirror images of each other. Pittsburgh is 11-5; Denver is 12-4. The Steelers have the seventh-ranked scoring offense in the NFL, while the Broncos have the second. The Steelers' scoring defense ranks 18th; the Broncos' 16th. Pittsburgh, though, is playing its best football right now, and Denver isn't.

Gene J. Puskar/Associated Press

Should Roethlisberger lead the Steelers to the AFC Championship Game, they'll likely face the New England Patriots—who, after a rough first quarter of the season, have been nothing less than the best team in football. They finished with the second-best scoring offense in the NFL and the eighth-best scoring defense.

This is an interesting quirk of fate: Roethlisberger and the Steelers' road to the Super Bowl likely goes through the last three AFC champions.

When Roethlisberger won his first ring, his performance was anything but MVP-caliber. In Super Bowl XL, he completed just nine of his 21 attempts for 123 yards, no touchdowns and two interceptions. Receiver Antwaan Randle El threw the touchdown pass that put the game away, and there was a lingering perception the Steelers won despite Roethlisberger.

Three years later, Big Ben won his second ring. Though history rightly remembers that victory being sealed with a glorious last-minute touchdown pass, receiver Santonio Holmes' superhuman effort to catch the ball and stay in bounds won him the game's MVP award.

Before that drive, Pittsburgh had turned a six-point lead into a three-point deficit, necessitating the comeback. And before that came 56 minutes of ugly, uninspiring football.

Roethlisberger's third trip to the Super Bowl didn't result in a win at all. He and the Steelers were thoroughly outplayed by Aaron Rodgers and the Green Bay Packers. Roethlisberger threw two touchdowns and two interceptions; Rodgers threw for 41 more yards, three scores and no picks (with one fewer attempt).

In 2005, the Steelers had the No. 3 scoring defense in the NFL. In 2008 and 2010, the defense was ranked No. 1. The team didn't need Roethlisberger to excel to achieve greatness.

Jamie Squire/Getty Images

This January, the Steelers will need everything Roethlisberger can give them. If they emerge as AFC champions, it'll be because he put the team on his shoulders and carried them there.

It would put him into the exclusive three-rings club and, interestingly, it would mark a 10-season gap between his first and last title. Unlike, say Terry Bradshaw, Roethlisberger will have won each ring with an almost entirely different supporting cast.

Then, there won't be any disputing it: Ben Roethlisberger isn't just one of the very best quarterbacks playing right now, but he's one of the best of this incredible generation.