Pittsburgh Steelers At The Mercy Of The Ben Roethlisberger Double-Edged Sword

Football is a game of margins.

Margins between good and great, between first down and turnover possession, between interception and completed pass.

These margins of error are so tight, that often it becomes will that is the overpowering force.

But can will, or the will to win, be too overbearing? Ben Roethlisbergers resilience, heart and dogged nature mean he will commit his whole physical well being to the cause. In turn, form, technique and convention is disposed of.

The only problem is committing to such a philosophy has one major drawback.

A dramatic widening of the margin of error.

Football coaches instill technique and fundamentals in football players because that form is the most likely to succeed or the least likely to fail.

Stray from these confines and you increase the level of difficulty for yourself.

Of course, it doesn’t mean that convention cannot be defied. Roethlisberger himself has won two superbowls in three appearances as a result of sticking to his own prescribed modus operandi. Take Philip Rivers, his side-arm action is unorthodox and will certainly not be found in any NFL quarterback-coaching manual. Yet, he’s considered one of the top five QB’s in the league today.

What it does mean, however, is that those willing to back their own ingenuity are constantly flirting with destruction.

Only one mislaid throw away from an interception returned touchdown.

Roethlisberger's ability to conjure something from nothing is legendary. But when staring into an abyss, as he was when backed up under the posts in the first quarter of Superbowl XLV with Packers pressure overwhelming, others may have taken the sack or thrown the ball away.

Roethlisberger, intractable as ever, was willing to take the ultimate risk and hurl his way out.

This is not a new development. Either Roethlisberger is a masochist or he is fully contented only with F Scott Fitzgerald’s "deeper satisfaction that comes out of struggle."

Big Ben has been digging holes for himself in the early stages of games for years, only to climb out and bury the opposition.

In fact, he did it against the Baltimore Ravens three weeks ago.

After going 7/13 with 78 passing yards, one fumble and zero TD’s in the first half, he produced a stellar second half which yielded figures of 12/19, 149 yards and 2 TD’s which annulled a 14 point deficit and heavily influenced their advancement to the AFC Championship game.

Only last night, the initial cracks turned into a fissure.

Down 18, Big Ben and the Steelers clawed back to within three, but that was to be all. Flashes of his genius were displayed, but ultimately, he couldn’t overcome the insurmountable odds that he created for himself.

Therein lies the problem. Roethlisberger's ability to make great plays is frequently compromised by his reckless abandon with which he facilitates them.

Ask Ben if we would like those plays back, he would say "yes."

Would he have behaved differently?

With a seven-year portfolio to use as our guide one can only surmise, "no."

It is a characteristic as ingrained as a leopard’s spots. Ben will always risk where others tiptoe.

After all, why would he change?

All of the success he’s obtained up until this point owes as much to sheer brass and will as it does to innate aptitude.

Great footballer? Yes.

Great play-maker? Yes.

Great Quarterback? No.

At least, not for now.

Ben is Ben.

In a great paradox, Roethlisberger is straitjacketed by his unwillingness to conform, his loyalty to unorthodoxy. The price is consistent inconsistency. The highs are stratospheric the lows catastrophic. Fans take the rough with the smooth.

They except that with Ben, resonant images such as when Roethlisbergers nose, battered and bloodied was left representing a 6 year olds child’s efforts with modelling clay—after his collision with Baltimore Ravens Defensive Tackle Haloti Nagata—only serve to illustrate his undying dedication to the cause.

Steelers fans that have bore witness to the entirety of Roethlisbergers career are well aware of the premise.

Like a setting of a Hollywood movie, the plot maybe enthralling, the subtext evocative, but ultimately it comes down to one man’s decision.

With Big Ben that leaves only the extremes of agony or ecstasy.

That is the Roethlisberger double-edged sword.