On paper, the Pittsburgh Steelers’ offense delivered a triumphant bounce-back performance against the Cincinnati Bengals, piling up 411 total yards, 138 rushing yards, and affording Aaron Rodgers an expansive 3.19 seconds of average pocket time.
After a frustrating stretch of protection breakdowns, fans and commentators quickly declared the restructured front five "fixed." However, former Steelers quarterback Ben Roethlisberger delivered a sharp reality check on his “Footbahlin with Ben Roethlisberger” podcast, cautioning that the unit's sudden turnaround was largely a byproduct of Cincinnati's passive scheme rather than a permanent fix.
Roethlisberger pointed to Cincinnati’s league-bottom 12.1% blitz rate, noting how vastly different the pocket
dynamics looked compared to the heavy pressure Pittsburgh faced a week prior from the New England Patriots. Rather than forcing fresh starters to process complex blitz packages, the Bengals sat back and allowed Rodgers to dissect coverage comfortably.
"What that tells me, since he didn't blitz, that's the Bengals being the Bengals," Roethlisberger observed. "How can you see the success that the Patriots had the week before in blitzing, and then you decide not to blitz? You know, it's like, okay, we're going to sit back in our defense and we're going to do this. Go ahead, sit back there, especially with the line. Like, I think if anything, you just gave our line a chance to build some confidence."
While praising third-year center Zach Frazier and newly inserted rookie tackle Max “IMAX” Iheanachor for executing their assignments, Roethlisberger warned that tougher tests await on a short week against Cleveland and further down the road against division rivals like the Baltimore Ravens.
"Now, that doesn't mean this week going up against Cleveland or moving down the line against Baltimore or any other of these teams, you better be prepared, IMAX," Big Ben added. "They're going to start doing some stuff to you now."
This article originally appeared on Steelers Wire: Ben Roethlisberger exposes true reason Steelers O-line looked fixed
