Ben Roethlisberger Promises to Be Better After 'Not Playing Well Enough' on SNF

The Pittsburgh Steelers are off to a disappointing 1-2-1 start following Sunday's 26-14 loss to the Baltimore Ravens, but quarterback Ben Roethlisberger ensured better days are coming in terms of his own production.

"I don't think I'm on the same page with anybody right now," he said when asked if he was on the same page with wide receiver Antonio Brown, per Jeremy Fowler of ESPN. "I'm not playing well enough. I need to play better. Today was just a bad day at the office...I promise I'll be back to play better."

Roethlisberger finished 27-of-47 for 274 yards, one touchdown and one interception and was outplayed by his counterpart Joe Flacco, who went 28-of-42 for 363 yards, two touchdowns and zero interceptions.

Despite his comments and the mediocre performance Sunday, Big Ben has not been the biggest problem with the Steelers this season. In fact, he combined for 805 passing yards, six touchdowns and one interception in the last two games prior to Sunday's.

Rather, Pittsburgh's defense has been nonexistent to start the season. It was an ugly 27th in the league in points and yards allowed coming into Sunday's slate and looked the part of a lackluster unit when Flacco threw touchdown passes to John Brown and Alex Collins in the first quarter.

The game could have been out of hand from the early going had Flacco not missed a wide-open Michael Crabtree on a potential touchdown and Collins not fumbled at the goal line. The 26 points Baltimore scored was actually deceivingly low.

The defense also didn't come through after Roethlisberger directed a comeback to tie the game and allowed four straight field-goal drives in the second half.

The better play from himself that Roethlisberger promised will help the Steelers climb back into the playoff race, but they will be on the outside looking in come January if the defense doesn't improve.