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REWIND: Top 10 Ben Roethlisberger Games​ · Pittsburgh Sports Memories

• 0:00
  SPEAKER_03: Hello, and welcome to another exciting episode of Pittsburgh Sports Memories Podcast.
• 0:05
  SPEAKER_03: On today's episode, we're going over the top ten Ben Roffelsberger games.
• 0:26
  SPEAKER_03: So in case you were under a rock for the last 20 years, Ben Rothelsberger is a Super Bowl-winning quarterback for the Pittsburgh Steelers, and he's had a lot of memorable moments with them.
• 0:39
  SPEAKER_03: He's only ever played for the Steelers, and he's probably one of their best quarterbacks, if not, I guess we could we've debated that before between Bradshaw and him.
• 0:51
  SPEAKER_03: It would be a tough call, probably.
• 0:54
  SPEAKER_03: But I have to instead of debating that, we're gonna go over his uh top 10 games.
• 0:59
  SPEAKER_03: So it's kind of a ripoff of David Letterman.
• 1:03
  SPEAKER_03: So to start off with, uh, how about some uh fun Ben Rothelsberger facts?
• 1:10
  SPEAKER_03: Some fun facts about Ben Rothelsberger.
• 1:12
  SPEAKER_03: Are you ready, Tim?
• 1:13
  SPEAKER_03: Yeah, far away.
• 1:14
  SPEAKER_03: I love fun facts.
• 1:16
  SPEAKER_03: All right.
• 1:17
  SPEAKER_03: Did you know his father was a pitcher and quarterback at Georgia Tech?
• 1:22
  SPEAKER_03: I did not know that.
• 1:24
  SPEAKER_03: I bet you knew this.
• 1:25
  SPEAKER_03: Did you know he was the youngest quarterback to win a Super Bowl?
• 1:28
  SPEAKER_03: I do remember that, yes.
• 1:30
  SPEAKER_03: Yes.
• 1:31
  SPEAKER_03: Um, he has his own line of barbecue sauce.
• 1:34
  SPEAKER_03: I've never tried it, so I don't know how good it is.
• 1:38
  SPEAKER_03: If he put his name on it, it has to be quality.
• 1:40
  SPEAKER_03: Quality product.
• 1:41
  SPEAKER_03: You don't think he pulled like a crusty to the clown?
• 1:44
  SPEAKER_03: I approve this product and or service.
• 1:49
  SPEAKER_03: Please treat Mr.
• 1:50
  SPEAKER_03: Black as you.
• 1:54
  SPEAKER_03: Uh we do not get paid by The Simpsons to make Simpsons reference.
• 2:00
  SPEAKER_03: Yeah.
• 2:02
  SPEAKER_03: Um, and uh let's see.
• 2:04
  SPEAKER_03: Until 2020, he was the quarterback that had the most wins at First Energy Stadium in Cleveland.
• 2:11
  SPEAKER_03: Do you realize the problem with that situation?
• 2:14
  SPEAKER_03: Right.
• 2:14
  SPEAKER_03: He never he was not the home quarterback of the Browns.
• 2:17
  SPEAKER_03: Yeah.
• 2:18
  SPEAKER_03: So Baker played the down basketball.
• 2:21
  SPEAKER_03: Yeah, yeah.
• 2:22
  SPEAKER_03: And now I guess it's back to being that maybe.
• 2:25
  SPEAKER_03: I mean, if I don't know.
• 2:27
  SPEAKER_03: I mean, did they win they won in Cleveland last year, right?
• 2:31
  SPEAKER_03: So it's gotta be well, no, then Baker Mayfield won a couple games last year, so maybe he's got to be.
• 2:36
  SPEAKER_03: big thing.
• 2:37
  SPEAKER_02: Even though Baker doesn't play for Cleveland anymore, I guess he's got that record pretty secure for the next few years.
• 2:43
  SPEAKER_03: Yeah.
• 2:44
  SPEAKER_03: Um he's also he is ranked fifth all-time in NFL career passing yards as of right now, 64,000.
• 2:52
  SPEAKER_03: He's eighth all-time in touchdowns at 418, and fifth in completion among quarterbacks.
• 3:00
  SPEAKER_03: He has the highest career winning percentage.
• 3:05
  SPEAKER_03: And he's uh only one of six quarterbacks to have beaten thirty one of the thirty two current NFL teams.
• 3:11
  SPEAKER_03: I don't know why he could just never beat the Steelers, but Yeah, he always struggled against them.
• 3:16
  SPEAKER_03: Yeah, he did.
• 3:18
  SPEAKER_03: So without further uh delay or whatever, we're gonna jump into the list.
• 3:24
  SPEAKER_03: And um since we're uh I I'm a big guy and I like donuts, I decided to make it a baker's dozen.
• 3:31
  SPEAKER_03: So at number 11.
• 3:34
  SPEAKER_03: You know, you know it's a good day when you get that extra donut, right?
• 3:40
  SPEAKER_03: Oh no.
• 3:41
  SPEAKER_03: Do you eat donuts, Tim?
• 3:42
  SPEAKER_03: You only eat gluten-free donuts, huh?
• 3:45
  SPEAKER_02: I I like donuts.
• 3:46
  SPEAKER_02: Uh huh.
• 3:47
  SPEAKER_02: I eat donuts with gluten in them, but I I don't eat them often, I have to admit.
• 3:51
  SPEAKER_02: But I like them.
• 3:53
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah, sure you do.
• 3:54
  SPEAKER_02: Sure you do, Tim.
• 3:57
  SPEAKER_02: Well, anyway.
• 3:59
  SPEAKER_02: They don't fit the T B12 regimen.
• 4:00
  SPEAKER_01: I mean, I mean, oops.
• 4:02
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
• 4:03
  SPEAKER_03: Yeah.
• 4:04
  SPEAKER_03: I I I don't know what Ben Rothelsberger's regimen was.
• 4:07
  SPEAKER_03: I'm sure he didn't pass up at the time.
• 4:08
  SPEAKER_03: It was not TB12, I can tell you that.
• 4:11
  SPEAKER_03: Yeah.
• 4:12
  SPEAKER_03: Um, so at number 11, um, does anybody remember the Baltimore um Santonio game?
• 4:18
  SPEAKER_03: And I I totally misspelled in my notes, making it San Antonio game.
• 4:23
  SPEAKER_03: So it's like Baltimore, the Pittsburgh playing a game in San Antonio, Texas at the Alamo Dome or something.
• 4:29
  SPEAKER_03: I don't know.
• 4:30
  SPEAKER_02: Is this is this the 2008 game where the division was on the line?
• 4:33
  SPEAKER_02: Yes, it was.
• 4:34
  SPEAKER_02: I remember that game.
• 4:36
  SPEAKER_03: Yeah, so um this is the uh Steelers, and as usual, they're in a battle for AFC North supremacy, and the Steelers need to win to keep ahead of Baltimore in the division.
• 4:47
  SPEAKER_03: Um, so what happened was a Ben runs around like he does many times on this list, and he throws a touchdown to well, what may or may not have been a touchdown to San Antonio Holmes.
• 5:00
  SPEAKER_03: I'm still not sure what what whether it was or not.
• 5:04
  SPEAKER_03: I think we have some uh audio here.
• 5:08
  SPEAKER_03: Rappelsberger.
• 5:09
  SPEAKER_03: First option.
• 5:10
  SPEAKER_03: Shut down.
• 5:11
  SPEAKER_03: Looking for a second.
• 5:12
  SPEAKER_03: A third option.
• 5:13
  SPEAKER_03: Now throws it.
• 5:14
  SPEAKER_03: Mans there.
• 5:15
  SPEAKER_03: Is he in the end zone?
• 5:17
  SPEAKER_03: Is he in or outside?
• 5:18
  SPEAKER_03: They're going to mark him outside.
• 5:20
  SPEAKER_03: And I guarantee you people are going to want to look at this one.
• 5:23
  SPEAKER_03: Well, inside two minutes.
• 5:24
  SPEAKER_03: It can be challenged from up top.
• 5:26
  SPEAKER_03: If I was the Steelers, I would not call a timeout.
• 5:29
  SPEAKER_03: After reviewing the play, the receiver had two feet down in the end zone.
• 5:34
  SPEAKER_03: With possession of the ball, we have a touchdown.
• 5:38
  SPEAKER_03: It's a touchdown for Pittsburgh.
• 5:41
  SPEAKER_03: So uh Tim, what do you what do else do you remember about that game besides like Santonian Holmes maybe not catching a touchdown?
• 5:49
  SPEAKER_03: Do you think it was a touchdown?
• 5:51
  SPEAKER_03: I have no idea.
• 5:52
  SPEAKER_03: It was so close.
• 5:52
  SPEAKER_03: I I I mean they could have called it either way, and I couldn't argued with it.
• 5:56
  SPEAKER_02: I think, yeah, I I think it it you know that was also third down, I believe.
• 6:01
  SPEAKER_02: So the the steer and the steering were down by three, so they would what I remember is it would have been very interesting had they not called it a touchdown because they would have then been on like the one inch line.
• 6:12
  SPEAKER_02: And do you go for it on fourth down at that point, or do you, you know, or do you kick a field goal and and it was a very, very low scoring game.
• 6:20
  SPEAKER_02: I believe it was like nine to six or something at the time.
• 6:23
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah.
• 6:23
  SPEAKER_02: It which was typical Pittsburgh Baltimore games in that era.
• 6:27
  SPEAKER_02: But uh yeah, it was a great win, and it ended up being very significant, right?
• 6:32
  SPEAKER_02: Because they played each other in the playoffs and the Steelers host really on the on the back of that win.
• 6:37
  SPEAKER_03: Yeah, it's it kind of set them up in the playoffs because maybe they don't they probably don't win in Baltimore in the playoffs.
• 6:45
  SPEAKER_03: I mean, have this I don't I don't know, the Steelers ever played a game in Baltimore in the playoffs?
• 6:51
  SPEAKER_03: Uh they have just not against the Ravens.
• 6:53
  SPEAKER_03: The Ravens, that's what I mean.
• 6:54
  SPEAKER_03: Yeah.
• 6:55
  SPEAKER_03: I mean they beat like that Bird Bell and the Colts way back in the 70s.
• 6:59
  SPEAKER_03: But yeah, I meant, yeah.
• 7:01
  SPEAKER_03: It's been a while.
• 7:02
  SPEAKER_03: It's been a while.
• 7:04
  SPEAKER_03: Um, so now into number 10, and um that would be Super Bowl 40.
• 7:09
  SPEAKER_03: So um say I know you know a lot of people like to not vague, but you know what?
• 7:15
  SPEAKER_03: Ben made enough throws in this game to win Super the Super Bowl, right?
• 7:20
  SPEAKER_03: He made that big third down pass to to Heinz Ward and um made a couple other passes that they needed to get, but um you know he just made enough plays there.
• 7:31
  SPEAKER_03: So I I anytime you win a Super Bowl, no matter how you do it, and if he doesn't throw that interception like in that third quarter, the game's probably a cakewalk.
• 7:41
  SPEAKER_03: So Ben gets a little bit of uh roughed up over that one, but hey, that's why it's at number 10.
• 7:46
  SPEAKER_03: Maybe this maybe the Santonio should have been at 10 and this should have been at 11.
• 7:50
  SPEAKER_03: But yeah, it's my list.
• 7:52
  SPEAKER_03: I'll do what I will with it.
• 7:54
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah, I I agree.
• 7:55
  SPEAKER_02: It's a little bit of an unfair um, you know, how history remembers that game with his performance because he had the interception and a really low passer rating.
• 8:06
  SPEAKER_02: And it's funny because the other guy that had a really I think I think the guy that he shares the lowest passer rating for a Super Bowl with is John for a winning quarterback, right?
• 8:16
  SPEAKER_02: Not like Tony Eason going 0 for 10 against the 85 Bears.
• 8:19
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah.
• 8:20
  SPEAKER_02: But for a winning quarterback, I believe it's John Elway in the Super Bowl where they beat the Packers.
• 8:25
  SPEAKER_02: He had a really low passer rating in that game.
• 8:27
  SPEAKER_02: But you know what?
• 8:27
  SPEAKER_02: No one remembers that because he had that helicopter run on third down.
• 8:32
  SPEAKER_02: He made a play.
• 8:32
  SPEAKER_02: He made a big play, he made enough big plays.
• 8:34
  SPEAKER_02: And Ben really did the same thing, but history doesn't remember it that way.
• 8:38
  SPEAKER_02: So good call putting that on the list, Steve.
• 8:41
  SPEAKER_02: Oh, thank you, Tim.
• 8:42
  SPEAKER_02: I'm glad you glad you approve at least.
• 8:46
  SPEAKER_02: I edit these podcasts, so if I didn't approve, then it was gonna get cut.
• 8:50
  SPEAKER_02: Nice.
• 8:52
  SPEAKER_03: I I I crave your approval.
• 8:55
  SPEAKER_03: As you should.
• 8:58
  SPEAKER_03: Um sticking with uh well, no, no, no, it's just I guess uh this is the Cowboys game in 2020.
• 9:06
  SPEAKER_03: Is this COVID or yeah, is post-COVID COVID-tastic?
• 9:10
  SPEAKER_03: I don't know.
• 9:11
  SPEAKER_03: Somewhere in there.
• 9:12
  SPEAKER_03: So this is when the Steelers were 8-0 and they were looking to stay that way.
• 9:17
  SPEAKER_03: And um, so this is like classic Ben.
• 9:20
  SPEAKER_03: Do you remember like right before the half, like the guy jumped into his knees and he was all hurt, and he was like, Oh, I'm all hurt, and I'm Ben, and I'm not gonna be able to play.
• 9:28
  SPEAKER_03: And then like Mason Rudolph comes in, he's like, Oh, I don't like Mason Rudolph, I want to play.
• 9:34
  SPEAKER_03: So he comes back and like leads the Steelers to victory.
• 9:37
  SPEAKER_03: And um, I think for he had three touchdowns in that game, so at least that's what I have written down.
• 9:45
  SPEAKER_03: So I mean he had a pretty good game, no interceptions.
• 9:48
  SPEAKER_03: I mean, he he has a really really good game in hurt.
• 9:51
  SPEAKER_03: I really think that was kind of like like after that, I don't think he was quite the same for whatever reason.
• 9:57
  SPEAKER_02: So yeah, that was that was in Dallas, that was 2020, right?
• 10:02
  SPEAKER_02: That was the COVID season.
• 10:04
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah, yeah, yeah.
• 10:05
  SPEAKER_02: So with like no fans and all that kind of stuff, but they had come from behind in that game.
• 10:08
  SPEAKER_02: It was it was a classic, like team didn't play that good, but Ben just wills them to victory.
• 10:14
  SPEAKER_03: Yes, and like, you know, even Mason Rudolph got some playing time.
• 10:18
  SPEAKER_03: I think they missed a field goal.
• 10:19
  SPEAKER_03: Did they hit no, they hit a field goal right at the end of the half after Ben got hurt.
• 10:24
  SPEAKER_03: Yeah, you gotta remember that.
• 10:25
  SPEAKER_03: Very long field goal, yeah.
• 10:27
  SPEAKER_03: Yeah, it was like 50-something yards.
• 10:29
  SPEAKER_03: I think there were a few people in that stadium, but like you said, it wasn't like the usual like hundred thousand that are there because it was like COVID time and stuff.
• 10:39
  SPEAKER_03: So remember those.
• 10:40
  SPEAKER_03: Remember COVID?
• 10:43
  SPEAKER_03: Oh yeah.
• 10:44
  SPEAKER_03: Unfortunately, I do remember COVID, yeah.
• 10:46
  SPEAKER_03: It's it's still here.
• 10:48
  SPEAKER_03: So yes.
• 10:50
  SPEAKER_03: Um, so uh moving on to uh number eight.
• 10:54
  SPEAKER_03: Um we're gonna stick with uh I guess we're gonna pile on the Cowboys, huh?
• 11:00
  SPEAKER_03: So um the Cowboys in his rookie year, they played the Cowboys in Dallas, and uh the Steelers were five and one.
• 11:08
  SPEAKER_03: They had lost their first game, but they had won four in a row, and they were looking to stay on a win streak with a rookie quarterback.
• 11:14
  SPEAKER_03: So what happens, Tim?
• 11:16
  SPEAKER_03: Well, the Steelers don't lose to was Vinnie Vinny was the quarterback, wasn't he?
• 11:21
  SPEAKER_03: Yeah, so Vinny Testaverdi.
• 11:23
  SPEAKER_03: They don't lose to him.
• 11:24
  SPEAKER_03: Vinny like makes a horrific fumble, and Ben makes a couple great plays going down the stretch, and uh they have totally the comeback win.
• 11:31
  SPEAKER_03: I think in this one he had two touchdowns, no interceptions again, and just uh just a great comeback win.
• 11:38
  SPEAKER_03: One for really like you know, it was kind of a glimpse of uh Big Ben uh moments to come.
• 11:46
  SPEAKER_03: That's a great way to describe that game.
• 11:48
  SPEAKER_02: Um it was it was very early on in his career.
• 11:51
  SPEAKER_02: He had beaten, I think, like Cincinnati and Cleveland at home in Miami.
• 11:56
  SPEAKER_02: He'd beaten Miami in that hurricane game.
• 11:58
  SPEAKER_02: You know, he had he had played well and he had made some plays, but but this was like the first time they were going on the road, and that was when Parcellus coached the Cowboys.
• 12:07
  SPEAKER_02: You know, they were they were uh a decent team, it was a big game, and it's like boy, that was the one thing that we were missing for 25 years between Super Bowls, was that kind of a quarterback, and that was really that game was kind of the first glimpse of man, we might really have something here.
• 12:29
  SPEAKER_03: Yeah, it was it was kind of kind of a glimpse of things to come.
• 12:32
  SPEAKER_03: I think he had like a play where he ran around and made a pass and you know did Ben kind of stuff, and I I remember Vinny fumbled, didn't he?
• 12:40
  SPEAKER_03: I think Casey Hampton forced a fumble on him or something.
• 12:44
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah, so yeah, it's funny.
• 12:46
  SPEAKER_02: Ben played a great game, did all this stuff, but really the Cowboys had the game pretty much wrapped up.
• 12:52
  SPEAKER_02: They had a third down, and it was one of those things where like if if you run the ball in a line of scrimmage, then you're gonna have to punt and the Steelers are gonna have some time to drive down the field.
• 13:04
  SPEAKER_02: But you could also gamble and pass for the first down, and then the game's over.
• 13:09
  SPEAKER_02: So Parcells decided he was gonna, you know, let's just go for the first down, let's end this thing right here and there.
• 13:15
  SPEAKER_02: And Tustavurti, um, yeah, he got hit, he fumbled, Kimovon Off and picked it up and ran it back to like the 10-yard line.
• 13:22
  SPEAKER_02: And it was it was this classic, like Vinny Testaverdi could never play against the Steelers.
• 13:27
  SPEAKER_02: He just always had his worst games and worst moments and worst turnovers against the Steelers.
• 13:33
  SPEAKER_02: And this was 20 years into his career and he was still doing it.
• 13:36
  SPEAKER_02: It was beautiful.
• 13:37
  SPEAKER_02: I think I think my favorite thing about that game was when he fumbled that ball, it was right on the star.
• 13:44
  SPEAKER_02: That was, yeah, I remember that.
• 13:46
  SPEAKER_03: Yeah.
• 13:47
  SPEAKER_03: Uh yeah, it was uh good old Vinny.
• 13:51
  SPEAKER_03: He was the gift they kept on giving.
• 13:53
  SPEAKER_03: And I think I don't know if no, Bella was Belichick in New England.
• 13:57
  SPEAKER_03: Yeah, Belichick, okay, yeah, because next week.
• 13:59
  SPEAKER_03: Well, that leads to number seven.
• 14:00
  SPEAKER_03: Speaking of Bill Belichick in New England Patriots.
• 14:04
  SPEAKER_03: So uh the Patriots game in Ben's rookie season, not the AFC Championship game, because that would be one of Ben's worst games if we were doing a top 10 of Ben's worst games.
• 14:16
  SPEAKER_03: That definitely it.
• 14:17
  SPEAKER_03: So now the Steelers are riding a six-game winning streak.
• 14:21
  SPEAKER_03: I think it was actually the week after.
• 14:24
  SPEAKER_03: And uh they had with a rookie quarterback.
• 14:27
  SPEAKER_03: So it's going in, and the Patriots had a 21-game winning streak.
• 14:32
  SPEAKER_03: It's Halloween.
• 14:33
  SPEAKER_03: You're not gonna, you know, the the Tom Brady and Bill Belichick have kind of owned the Steelers up to that point.
• 14:40
  SPEAKER_03: And uh what happens?
• 14:42
  SPEAKER_03: Well, Ben lights up the Patriots defense for a couple of touchdowns.
• 14:45
  SPEAKER_03: And uh, Steelers, I think the Shea Townsend had an interception, and it was 21 to nothing before like the first quarter was even over.
• 14:53
  SPEAKER_03: So they really piled on early and then they held on through the second half.
• 14:57
  SPEAKER_03: I and the I think the Patriots mounted a little bit of a comeback, but they couldn't stop Bettis in the run.
• 15:04
  SPEAKER_03: And uh that that was another great moment where like Bettis ran over Rodney Harrison, like he could have picked to go out of bounds and he like jumped back inbounds just to hit Rodney Harrison.
• 15:15
  SPEAKER_03: So, but I think I remember Ben too, like he hit a really nice deep pass to Plexigo Burris early in that game, and uh to to kind of like you know open up the scoring.
• 15:26
  SPEAKER_03: And Ben just had a really good game, and as a rookie QB, you were kind of impressed because like I forget, wasn't there like some crazy stat like rookie quarterbacks never did well against Bill Belchak and but not so much Ben that time at least.
• 15:43
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah, I remember thinking when they you know beat New England decisively and and Ben really shredded their defense that the days of the New England Patriots owning the Steelers are over.
• 15:55
  SPEAKER_02: And uh I was wrong.
• 15:58
  SPEAKER_02: It's funny because they beat Philadelphia the next week, too.
• 16:01
  SPEAKER_02: But it was also undefeated, yeah.
• 16:04
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah.
• 16:04
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah, that was a magical.
• 16:06
  SPEAKER_02: We actually did a whole uh episode about that 2004 season.
• 16:09
  SPEAKER_02: It was it was really even though they did not win a championship that year, it was just a magical year, and it really led into uh we spell like 2004 and 2005 were almost like one complete story.
• 16:22
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah you know, and uh and so they didn't technically win a championship in 04, but it really set the stage for the championship they won the next year.
• 16:31
  SPEAKER_02: So yeah, go back and listen to our episode on the 04 season if you haven't heard it already.
• 16:35
  SPEAKER_03: Maybe we should make them into one, like go back and re-edit them like they did the Superman one and two a few years back.
• 16:43
  SPEAKER_03: Richard Donner and he did Yeah, there you go.
• 16:46
  SPEAKER_03: It's one big episode now.
• 16:51
  SPEAKER_03: Um sticking uh uh well now moving on to the Bengals.
• 16:56
  SPEAKER_03: Um the Bengals game, the playoff game where uh Vontez Berfick hurt them.
• 17:02
  SPEAKER_03: Um, so you know that that era of the Cincinnati Bengals were still kind of ticked off that we hurt Carson Palmer way back when.
• 17:10
  SPEAKER_03: Or maybe not, maybe they're just a bunch of dirty teapsaw artists.
• 17:13
  SPEAKER_03: I don't know.
• 17:14
  SPEAKER_03: Take your pick.
• 17:16
  SPEAKER_03: Um, but that was the game where like after a sack, like the Steelers weren't necessarily playing that well, but like as he's on the ground, like Burfick is like kneeing Ben's shoulder, and he's successful, he separates Ben's shoulder, and so like Ben, like I think Ben had to get carded off the field, and like the Cincinnati fans were throwing stuff at him, and so like at that point they have to bring in Landry Jones, who I think throws an interception, right?
• 17:46
  SPEAKER_03: And then Ben like Ben, like Cincinnati goes into full Cincinnati, Bengals gonna bengal.
• 17:53
  SPEAKER_03: Uh they fumble the ball, and Ben comes back out, like with basically like half an arm.
• 18:01
  SPEAKER_03: And like just literally like chucks the ball down the field to get to get them in the well in the penalty range.
• 18:11
  SPEAKER_03: He gets he completes like a couple passes and like Burfect, like does Burfect stuff, and like they take a bunch of penalties and move them in the field goal range, and the Steelers pull out one of the most surreal wins in NFL history.
• 18:26
  SPEAKER_03: I mean, it's not even in Steelers, that's one of the most insane.
• 18:30
  SPEAKER_03: Like it's literally a team just did not care that like the Bengals, like, I don't want to win, I just want to beat the heck out of the Steelers, and that'll be our win.
• 18:41
  SPEAKER_03: So it's definitely odd.
• 18:43
  SPEAKER_03: Ben only had one touchdown passing.
• 18:45
  SPEAKER_03: He was 18 for 31, so his stats weren't really that good, but at the end of the game, like they were they were he was pretty banged up, so yeah.
• 18:55
  SPEAKER_02: We we talked about that in our Steelers Bengals episode and and how satisfying that win was and how it was justice.
• 19:03
  SPEAKER_02: It was just justice.
• 19:05
  SPEAKER_02: But um you're right about Ben.
• 19:07
  SPEAKER_02: I mean, he came into that game and his shoulder was literally separated, and he he couldn't really throw the ball more than five or six yards.
• 19:15
  SPEAKER_02: And it's a miracle that they got as far down the field as they did, because at that point they didn't have a I don't remember how many timeouts they had, but they really didn't have the option to really stop the clock a lot.
• 19:26
  SPEAKER_02: So that's all he could do was throw short passes and hope that the clock doesn't run out before you get in some kind of field goal range.
• 19:33
  SPEAKER_02: It was raining too, so they had to get you know pretty far down the field to get in good field goal range.
• 19:39
  SPEAKER_02: So that was that was just amazing that he was able to come back into that game and rescue them from their season being over.
• 19:48
  SPEAKER_03: It is weird how many times on this list like Ben is like hurt or banged up.
• 19:52
  SPEAKER_03: It's like he's like the incredible Hulk.
• 19:54
  SPEAKER_03: You wouldn't like him when he's angry.
• 19:56
  SPEAKER_03: It's like you just you can't hurt him, you're just gonna take him off, and then he's gonna like really, really take it to you.
• 20:03
  SPEAKER_03: So don't don't don't hurt Ben Rothelsberger, I guess.
• 20:07
  SPEAKER_03: I I don't know.
• 20:09
  SPEAKER_02: So what number was what number was that, Steve?
• 20:12
  SPEAKER_02: For that one?
• 20:12
  SPEAKER_03: That was uh six.
• 20:14
  SPEAKER_03: Okay.
• 20:14
  SPEAKER_03: Siete, if you're uh is it sace.
• 20:17
  SPEAKER_03: Says, sorry.
• 20:19
  SPEAKER_03: Now we're on the cinco, which is definitely five in Spanish.
• 20:24
  SPEAKER_03: I don't know what it is in Portuguese.
• 20:26
  SPEAKER_03: You're on your own on that one.
• 20:29
  SPEAKER_03: So um so we're going to um this is one of Ben Rothelsberger's 500-yard passing games.
• 20:38
  SPEAKER_03: Uh I think he has three or four of them.
• 20:42
  SPEAKER_03: No, he has three.
• 20:43
  SPEAKER_03: Three.
• 20:44
  SPEAKER_03: And so um the Steelers needed to win this game, the the playoff position.
• 20:49
  SPEAKER_03: This was week 14 in 2017.
• 20:53
  SPEAKER_03: And um this is the uh they played the Ravens.
• 20:57
  SPEAKER_03: And uh he he ended up to absolutely like he I think he didn't I think he threw only two touchdowns, but he threw 500 yards passing.
• 21:07
  SPEAKER_03: And like they won on a on a field goal, and then I think they made like a last second.
• 21:12
  SPEAKER_03: The defense was really not that good that season, and they kind of made like a defensive stand against Joe Flacco and the They couldn't even get in the field goal range close enough for Justin Tucker.
• 21:26
  SPEAKER_03: So I think though I was watching some of the highlights, and there one of the receivers like he he caught the ball, but his like foot was literally standing on the white when he it wasn't even close.
• 21:37
  SPEAKER_03: It was like it's like you literally need to move your foot back a foot.
• 21:41
  SPEAKER_03: So but the Steelers um definitely pulled that out, and um what happened at the end of that season was I remember that because they had lost to Jacksonville earlier that year, but they ended up having did they I don't think they had home field the whole way.
• 21:57
  SPEAKER_03: Did they have home field the whole way in 2007?
• 22:00
  SPEAKER_03: No.
• 22:01
  SPEAKER_03: They were the two seed.
• 22:02
  SPEAKER_03: Yeah, because New England was still the number one seed, I think.
• 22:06
  SPEAKER_03: And so they ended up playing Jacksonville, and they literally lost to Jacksonville and Blake Bortles in 2017 in the wild card game.
• 22:17
  SPEAKER_03: A lot of these seasons end the same way, like, especially on the back half of like Ben's career, like they get blown out in the playoffs, and he didn't really like Ben really didn't have that great of a playoff success after the early like 2010s for whatever reason.
• 22:36
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah, that that Baltimore game.
• 22:39
  SPEAKER_02: That was a I want to say Sunday night game.
• 22:42
  SPEAKER_02: It was a night game.
• 22:42
  SPEAKER_02: I remember that.
• 22:44
  SPEAKER_02: And uh and I was at that game, and um they were down, they they had to come back in that game from I believe a two-score deficit.
• 22:54
  SPEAKER_03: Is that correct?
• 22:55
  SPEAKER_03: I thought they had a lead in it.
• 22:58
  SPEAKER_03: They they had a lead and I think they blew it.
• 23:00
  SPEAKER_03: Okay, but they did have to come back at one point.
• 23:03
  SPEAKER_03: Yeah.
• 23:03
  SPEAKER_03: Yeah, because they were down by three points at one point.
• 23:06
  SPEAKER_03: Now they might have been more than that, but but they he threw the ball 66 times.
• 23:12
  SPEAKER_03: 500 yards passing normally you lose.
• 23:15
  SPEAKER_03: Like 400 yards passing you normally lose, but 500 it I think he still has the most 500 yards passing games in NFO history.
• 23:25
  SPEAKER_03: I don't put a lot of stock in passing yards.
• 23:28
  SPEAKER_03: Yeah, I think it's more impressive touchdowns and interceptions.
• 23:33
  SPEAKER_02: But yeah, he yeah.
• 23:35
  SPEAKER_02: I mean he so you're right, he has three regular season games with 500 yards.
• 23:40
  SPEAKER_02: Um he did have a playoff game with 500 yards also.
• 23:42
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah, that was the one against the Cleveland.
• 23:44
  SPEAKER_02: That was the one against Cleveland.
• 23:46
  SPEAKER_02: So to your point about not putting a lot of stock in passing yards, if you're way behind, you can pretty easily rack up a bunch of passing yards.
• 23:55
  SPEAKER_03: Yeah, it's the opposite of like rushing yards.
• 23:57
  SPEAKER_03: Like if you get 100 and some yards rushing, it's like you almost always win.
• 24:01
  SPEAKER_03: Where if you get like 400 yards of passing, you almost always lose.
• 24:06
  SPEAKER_03: It's it's weird.
• 24:07
  SPEAKER_03: It's a weird corollary, I guess.
• 24:11
  SPEAKER_03: Is that the fancy word I'm looking for?
• 24:13
  SPEAKER_03: Sure, why not?
• 24:14
  SPEAKER_02: Sounds right.
• 24:15
  SPEAKER_03: Sounds legit.
• 24:17
  SPEAKER_03: Sounds legit.
• 24:18
  SPEAKER_03: Well, we're we're we're just cooking on through this list here.
• 24:22
  SPEAKER_03: Um maybe you remember this.
• 24:24
  SPEAKER_03: I I don't know.
• 24:25
  SPEAKER_03: Were you at this game or not?
• 24:27
  SPEAKER_03: But uh week 15, Green Bay Packers versus the Steelers in 2009.
• 24:33
  SPEAKER_03: Um, the Steelers are coming off a Super Bowl win, and they are in a slump.
• 24:38
  SPEAKER_03: They have lost to the Ravens, Raiders, and Browns.
• 24:42
  SPEAKER_03: They I remember that game against the Browns.
• 24:44
  SPEAKER_03: That was that horrible weather game.
• 24:46
  SPEAKER_03: So the the Steelers are in the Raiders.
• 24:49
  SPEAKER_03: I think that was the game where Thoreau Pryor ran like the opening play for like 80 yards or something stupid like that.
• 24:56
  SPEAKER_02: That that was the that was not the Thoreau Pryor game.
• 24:59
  SPEAKER_02: That was a few years later.
• 25:00
  SPEAKER_02: But that was a game where the defensive back, who I'll never remember his name, had the game-winning interception in his hands and he just dropped it.
• 25:09
  SPEAKER_02: And then the and then the Raiders won on like a last second touchdown, I want to say.
• 25:12
  SPEAKER_02: And that Cleveland game was like a Thursday night game where it was like four degrees.
• 25:16
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah.
• 25:17
  SPEAKER_02: And never I've never seen a football team less interested in being in the stadium than the Steelers were that night.
• 25:23
  SPEAKER_02: They just were like, oh my god, it's so cold.
• 25:26
  SPEAKER_02: We just let's just go home now.
• 25:28
  SPEAKER_02: And it was like, but but it's but there's still only the first quarter now, let's just go home.
• 25:32
  SPEAKER_02: So you're right, they were they were really slumping that that at that point, and I think that was the um the infamous Mike Tomlin, we're gonna unleash hell.
• 25:41
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah.
• 25:43
  SPEAKER_03: Yeah.
• 25:43
  SPEAKER_03: And then they like I remember like the whole rest of the season, like Mark Mann was like, they couldn't even unleash heck.
• 25:52
  SPEAKER_02: But the Green Bay game was a good one, so go ahead and talk about that.
• 25:55
  SPEAKER_03: Yeah, yeah.
• 25:56
  SPEAKER_03: So re irregardless of the slumping Steelers, um, they come in against the game against the Green Bay Packers, who I think I looked at they I think they went nine and seven that year, but they had some guy named Aaron Rodgers.
• 26:08
  SPEAKER_03: You ever heard of him, a quarterback?
• 26:10
  SPEAKER_03: Uh, I don't know.
• 26:11
  SPEAKER_03: I don't know if he ever did anything.
• 26:12
  SPEAKER_03: He was okay.
• 26:13
  SPEAKER_03: Yeah, yeah, he joked in the playoffs a lot.
• 26:17
  SPEAKER_03: Um, so what happened was uh Ben threw for 500 yards passing in three touchdowns, and he outdulled our Aaron Rodgers.
• 26:26
  SPEAKER_03: I didn't look up Aaron Rodgers' stats, but um Ben Ben has 500 yards and three touchdowns, which is pretty impressive.
• 26:34
  SPEAKER_03: And probably the most impressive was his um his play at the end of the game to um Mike Wallace to win it.
• 26:45
  SPEAKER_03: Rothisberger throws end zone.
• 26:49
  SPEAKER_01: Touchdown.
• 26:50
  SPEAKER_01: Mike Wallace with no time left.
• 26:58
  SPEAKER_03: So um after that amazing catch by Mike Wallace, I do believe he went and uh interviewed Barack Obama on 60 Minutes, which was being shown, except on the West Coast.
• 27:12
  SPEAKER_02: I want to say that was a different Mike Wallace.
• 27:16
  SPEAKER_03: Yeah, I think so.
• 27:18
  SPEAKER_03: But uh I know we were talking, I I thought Mike Wallace Mike Wallace made a really nice catch on the play, and Ben like kind of like held the ball, held the ball.
• 27:26
  SPEAKER_03: It was like backyard.
• 27:27
  SPEAKER_03: It was like seriously like backyard football.
• 27:29
  SPEAKER_03: Like that play is like the definition.
• 27:31
  SPEAKER_03: Like he just sat back there, sat back.
• 27:32
  SPEAKER_03: It's like you'd have been ticked without your friends.
• 27:35
  SPEAKER_03: Like, count the five Mississippi quicker, because it really wasn't the defensive back's fault.
• 27:41
  SPEAKER_03: They really just didn't get any pressure on him, and so he threw a ball, and when he caught the ball, time had expired.
• 27:48
  SPEAKER_03: So there was no way the defense could blow that game.
• 27:52
  SPEAKER_03: And Chris Boswell, that tied the game, and then Chris Boswell kicked the game winner, and that was it.
• 27:58
  SPEAKER_03: There was partying in the streets, and you know, everybody was happy that the Steelers were still not going to the playoffs that year.
• 28:06
  SPEAKER_03: I do believe they did not make the playoffs that year.
• 28:09
  SPEAKER_03: Correct.
• 28:09
  SPEAKER_03: That would have been 2009.
• 28:11
  SPEAKER_03: So they couldn't even unleash heck, so it happens.
• 28:16
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah, that was that was a heck of a throw because it was like in the you know, he ran around and held the ball for forever, but he still had to like thread a needle in like the very side of the end zone.
• 28:26
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah.
• 28:27
  SPEAKER_02: I mean it was in fact I think they even had to review that because it was so close to the sidelines.
• 28:32
  SPEAKER_02: Uh, but um, yeah, that was that was just classic Ben winning games, you know, by himself.
• 28:40
  SPEAKER_02: Uh and you know, I when those two quarterbacks met again the next year, it was in the Super Bowl.
• 28:46
  SPEAKER_02: And uh and everybody was kind of like, oh boy, what's that first matchup was amazing.
• 28:51
  SPEAKER_02: I can't imagine what the second one's gonna be like.
• 28:53
  SPEAKER_02: And it of course it wasn't quite as uh didn't work out quite as well.
• 28:58
  SPEAKER_02: Ho ho hum game.
• 28:59
  SPEAKER_03: I don't know the ho hum.
• 29:01
  SPEAKER_03: It was just kind of like your average win, you know, by a team.
• 29:05
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah.
• 29:06
  SPEAKER_02: And and then oddly enough, uh Rod Rogers and Rothesberger did not face each other again until uh Ben's final year, 2021.
• 29:15
  SPEAKER_02: That was that was the next time they would actually play against each other, wasn't until 2021.
• 29:21
  SPEAKER_02: Huh.
• 29:23
  SPEAKER_03: Was that when Mike Tomlin was like winking at him?
• 29:26
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah.
• 29:27
  SPEAKER_03: Come sign with us.
• 29:28
  SPEAKER_03: Yeah, that was that was a total bunch of malarkey.
• 29:33
  SPEAKER_03: It's like every every every like quarterback that was a free agent, oh, they're gonna sign him.
• 29:38
  SPEAKER_03: It's like, yeah, the Steelers are gonna have like 18 quarterbacks.
• 29:41
  SPEAKER_03: You're gonna have Deshaun Watson, Aaron Rodgers, you know, who else, Matthew Stafford, like any quarterback.
• 29:48
  SPEAKER_03: Yeah, it's like Baker Mayfield, like every quarterback that like is even rumored to be being traded is gonna be on the Steelers now.
• 29:56
  SPEAKER_02: Oh, Russell Wilson, you forgot Russell Wilson.
• 29:58
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah.
• 29:59
  SPEAKER_02: He was he would have been the third stringer behind, you know, yeah.
• 30:03
  SPEAKER_02: Rogers and Sean Watson.
• 30:13
  SPEAKER_01: He waits, he throws the pass, and it's intercepted! Good throw him out of the 40! 35-30.
• 30:19
  SPEAKER_00: Steelers vs.
• 30:20
  SPEAKER_00: Ravens is the best rivalry in all of Pro Sports.
• 30:23
  SPEAKER_00: And now that series has been chronicled in Pittsburgh vs.
• 30:26
  SPEAKER_00: Baltimore, the unofficial history, an all-new book from the Pittsburgh Sports Memories podcast.
• 30:32
  SPEAKER_00: Relive all the fierce battles and exciting moments from this amazing rivalry.
• 30:38
  SPEAKER_00: There were legendary plays like Troy Polomalu's Pick Six and the Immaculate Extension, and there were crazy incidents like Joey Porter chasing Ray Lewis into the parking lot, or the Ravens putting a bounty on Heinz Ward.
• 30:51
  SPEAKER_00: We cover all of it, including some stories you may never have heard.
• 30:55
  SPEAKER_00: Buy a copy for yourself, or get one as a gift for the Steelers fan in your life.
• 31:00
  SPEAKER_00: Find it on Amazon or see the link in the show description of this episode, and thanks for supporting the podcast.
• 31:15
  SPEAKER_03: Um, number three, the Broncos game AFC Championship game.
• 31:20
  SPEAKER_03: Um, so the Steelers are the sixth seed and they need to break the AFC Championship game.
• 31:27
  SPEAKER_03: Jinx, they do so in style as uh Ben smokes Denver like a cheap cigar, just to channel my inner Mike Lang.
• 31:37
  SPEAKER_03: Um, he really did have himself a day that game.
• 31:40
  SPEAKER_03: He and like it wasn't like he was going against like a schlub defense, like John Lynch and Champ Bailey were in that secondary, although they did pick on Dominic Foxworth a lot, too.
• 31:51
  SPEAKER_03: So he really had a really good game, two touchdowns, no interceptions.
• 31:55
  SPEAKER_03: I think he had a rushing, he had a rushing touchdown at the end.
• 31:58
  SPEAKER_03: Um, the the probably the most Ben play that was like I remember they had scored on a play by Bettis, but like Heinz Ward was like lined up wrong or something.
• 32:09
  SPEAKER_03: So they had to replay the play, and it's like, well, if we just set her for a field goal, because it was after an interception, it was just like we set her for a field goal, it's not the end of the world.
• 32:18
  SPEAKER_03: But no, no, Ben runs around and like throws like a pass, like and he even said in interviews he thought it might have got intercepted, and it went through like over a guy's hands, and it went right to Heinz Ward in the back of the end zone.
• 32:30
  SPEAKER_03: And that was pretty much the ball game, wouldn't you say?
• 32:34
  SPEAKER_03: I mean the Denver tried to make a little bit of a run in the second half, but not really.
• 32:40
  SPEAKER_02: It really was the ball game.
• 32:42
  SPEAKER_02: And uh I I said it in our we did an episode about the the Steelers Broncos rivalry because they played in each other in so many playoff games.
• 32:51
  SPEAKER_02: I said I said in that episode that when that play happened, I was like, oh my gosh, we're gonna win the Super Bowl, because that was the complete opposite of all those later Chuck Noel years, all those Bell Cower years of you know, playing it safe and you know, game manager, quarterback, you know, we'll hold them with our defense.
• 33:10
  SPEAKER_02: And that never worked in a clutch playoff game.
• 33:14
  SPEAKER_02: And like you said, they could have just that was what that's what Cower would have done his whole career before that.
• 33:20
  SPEAKER_02: That's what Noel would have done his the whole latter half of his career, just take the field goal there.
• 33:25
  SPEAKER_02: And they're like, no, forget that.
• 33:26
  SPEAKER_02: We're going for the touchdown.
• 33:28
  SPEAKER_02: And and I said it, I was like, oh my gosh, we're gonna we're gonna actually win the Super Bowl because this is what's different.
• 33:35
  SPEAKER_02: All those times we lost the AFC Championship game, and that one moment to me was was what changed everything.
• 33:41
  SPEAKER_02: Or at least not changed everything, but what was you know indicative of the fact that things had changed?
• 33:47
  SPEAKER_03: That makes sense.
• 33:48
  SPEAKER_03: Oh yeah.
• 33:49
  SPEAKER_03: I mean, that's it.
• 33:49
  SPEAKER_03: I've never I can't say I felt that way, but it's always like it was such a like we scored and the reps like took it away.
• 33:56
  SPEAKER_03: I was like, okay, what a cheap penalty.
• 33:58
  SPEAKER_03: Maybe line on did that affect the play?
• 34:01
  SPEAKER_03: No.
• 34:02
  SPEAKER_03: But it's like, okay, fine, you want to call your crap penalty?
• 34:05
  SPEAKER_03: Oh, we'll score anyway.
• 34:06
  SPEAKER_03: Call crap penalty on that one.
• 34:09
  SPEAKER_03: So I mean, and that's like you said, like before we would have like settled for the field goal or done something really conservative or thrown an interception, and it's just like we got this new quarterback, and that's just uh that's not gonna happen this time, is it?
• 34:25
  unknown: Yes.
• 34:26
  SPEAKER_03: So um, we're on to number two.
• 34:30
  SPEAKER_03: And uh I I I I think I'm gonna start some controversy here, Tim.
• 34:34
  SPEAKER_03: I I don't know.
• 34:35
  SPEAKER_03: I know you might not agree with me on these next two here.
• 34:38
  SPEAKER_03: So I'm going to Super Bowl 43.
• 34:42
  SPEAKER_03: And that would Yeah, I know.
• 34:44
  SPEAKER_03: You thought that was gonna be one, didn't you?
• 34:47
  SPEAKER_03: Pulling the rug out from under you.
• 34:50
  SPEAKER_03: Um, so the background on this one is the Steelers are out to win their sixth Super Bowl.
• 34:56
  SPEAKER_03: So um what happened was only like the defining moment of Ben's career, I would say.
• 35:01
  SPEAKER_03: It's probably and probably one of the biggest plays in Steeler history outside of like the Immaculate Reception, or I don't know what else.
• 35:10
  SPEAKER_03: What other single play in Steeler history could you like one of the Super Bowl touchdowns or something?
• 35:15
  SPEAKER_03: I don't know.
• 35:17
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah, that one that the the Santoni Holmes play is right up there with the Immaculate Reception, like there should be a statue of him like leaning is Anthony or Marty going to be on the statue like how they have it for like Mario.
• 35:30
  SPEAKER_03: Yeah.
• 35:32
  SPEAKER_03: Richie Delons.
• 35:33
  SPEAKER_03: He could be the Richie Keelons, yeah.
• 35:35
  SPEAKER_03: But um, yeah, Ben drives him down the field in the last minute.
• 35:38
  SPEAKER_03: Santonio makes a bunch of great catches.
• 35:40
  SPEAKER_03: There was actually a holding play to start the drive.
• 35:43
  SPEAKER_03: It's like it's like first and ten, that's too easy.
• 35:46
  SPEAKER_03: Let's do a first and twenty.
• 35:49
  SPEAKER_03: And they picked it up.
• 35:51
  SPEAKER_03: And I mean, they I think I I don't remember the whole drive, and we've never done a Super Bowl 43 episode yet.
• 35:57
  SPEAKER_03: We'll have to do that in the near future here.
• 36:00
  SPEAKER_03: But yeah, he throws a he just throws a pass that's on unreal to at the end.
• 36:05
  SPEAKER_03: And then there was a play before that, too, where I remember it went through Holmes's hands.
• 36:10
  SPEAKER_03: It wasn't the greatest pass by Ben, but it was definitely catchable, and they both thought they had lost the Super Bowl at that point, but they came right back to next play, and um good for them.
• 36:21
  SPEAKER_03: They they made uh they made the catch and that won the game.
• 36:24
  SPEAKER_03: And uh all they did was make a play at the end there.
• 36:28
  SPEAKER_03: Thank God Brett Keiesel, or no, that was Woodley.
• 36:31
  SPEAKER_03: That was Woodley who hit Kurt Warner.
• 36:33
  SPEAKER_03: Because could you imagine if Kurt Warner would have been able to throw that ball to Larry Fitzgerald somewhere, anywhere, with Ike Taylor desperately trying to cover him, and and that's Ike Taylor's worst situation, a jump ball.
• 36:49
  SPEAKER_03: It could have could have been uh statue of Larry Fitzgerald somewhere catching a pass, a hellmark pass.
• 36:58
  SPEAKER_03: Do you think there's an alternate universe out there where that actually happened?
• 37:04
  SPEAKER_02: There probably is, but I don't want to.
• 37:06
  SPEAKER_03: You don't want to you don't want to think about it.
• 37:07
  SPEAKER_03: Well, we live in our own timeline, so thank goodness for that.
• 37:13
  SPEAKER_03: But um I like we said, it's one of the biggest, it's it's probably I would say it's probably the biggest play of Ben's career, but since we did biggest games, I didn't that's why I didn't count it as one.
• 37:27
  SPEAKER_03: But um so what could outdo the uh Super Bowl touchdown catch?
• 37:34
  SPEAKER_03: Any guesses, Tim?
• 37:38
  SPEAKER_02: Uh boy, I I have a few guesses, but I'm not gonna give them away in case you ask for honorable mentions.
• 37:45
  SPEAKER_02: Okay.
• 37:46
  SPEAKER_03: Well, I went with number one because I remember this, and I was this has impressed me to this day.
• 37:52
  SPEAKER_03: The twin six touchdown games, the back-to-back six touchdown games.
• 37:57
  SPEAKER_03: That's that's the most un I don't think I've ever seen like outside of like college, like you know, one of those like Mike Leach teams that just like or June Jones that like just throws the ball over the place.
• 38:09
  SPEAKER_03: Like I've never seen like a team like score literally number number one, just score six touchdowns two weeks in a row, but your quarterback throw six touchdowns and no interceptions two weeks in a row.
• 38:22
  SPEAKER_03: That's 12 touchdowns in two weeks.
• 38:27
  SPEAKER_03: I mean, so the first game was a um week eight in 2014.
• 38:33
  SPEAKER_03: Um, that was against the Colts, and that was they had a big lead.
• 38:36
  SPEAKER_03: They had like they had a 35 to something, they had scored 35 points by halftime, and they ended up almost like they had a couple fumbles in the second half, and Andrew Luck kind of drove the Colts back into the game.
• 38:50
  SPEAKER_03: But then I remember at the end, they the sixth he threw to Heath Miller, like they had to roll him out on like third down instead of settling.
• 38:58
  SPEAKER_03: Once again, instead of settling for a field goal, they rolled Ben out, and he literally just threw it right to Heath and they caught it.
• 39:04
  SPEAKER_03: And that was um, I think those were that was the beginning of the Bell and Brown teams.
• 39:09
  SPEAKER_03: You know, that offense was just unreal.
• 39:11
  SPEAKER_03: And I mean, when you can throw six touchdowns, that's uh that's a pretty good way to uh enhance your Super Bowl career or your playoff Hall of Fame.
• 39:24
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah, what I what I remember too about that game was he had not only the six touchdowns, but that was one of the 500 yard games.
• 39:32
  SPEAKER_02: Yes.
• 39:33
  SPEAKER_02: And and in the National Football League, oddly enough, it's it's it's really interesting.
• 39:40
  SPEAKER_02: One of the oldest records in the National Football League is passing yards in a game.
• 39:45
  SPEAKER_02: It was set in 1951, I believe, by Norm Van Brocklin against a team that doesn't exist anymore.
• 39:53
  SPEAKER_02: It's like the New York Yanks or something.
• 39:56
  SPEAKER_02: Uh and it was it was something like around something like 550 yards passing.
• 40:01
  SPEAKER_02: And that was that was you know early 50s when when the NFL was not a passing man's game.
• 40:06
  SPEAKER_02: And all these quarterbacks over the years, right, just you just name the list of great quarterbacks, all the aerial offenses and all the roles that have made passing you know easier and and made playing defense harder, right?
• 40:21
  SPEAKER_02: So offense passing numbers have just skyrocketed since that time.
• 40:26
  SPEAKER_02: Yet no one's been able to break that record for passing yards in a single game.
• 40:31
  SPEAKER_02: And Ben was at like 520 with like eight minutes left in the game.
• 40:36
  SPEAKER_02: And I was at that game and I was looking at my phone and I was checking because I'm like, how many yards does he have?
• 40:42
  SPEAKER_02: But then by that point they were up by a couple scores, and so they just ran the ball to run out the clock.
• 40:48
  SPEAKER_02: And that's that's why that record's so hard to break, because you have to either be in a game where you're like you're trading scores back and forth, and for most of that game, Andrew Luck was the Colts quarterback.
• 40:59
  SPEAKER_02: For most of that game, they were just back and forth, back and forth, and then the Steelers pull away at the end, and then at that point, you know, you're a jerk if you're throwing, right?
• 41:07
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah, but man, he was so close to breaking that record, and that would have just immortalized him because he would have broken literally a 70-year-old record.
• 41:16
  SPEAKER_02: Um, so that's what I just remember.
• 41:18
  SPEAKER_02: I was like, come on, just throw throw one deep pass to the tight end.
• 41:21
  SPEAKER_02: I'm sure it'll be wide open because you know, they're just expecting you to run, but again, it would have been, you know, in this day and age of 24-7 football covering the social media, like, oh, that wasn't, you know, I mean, they're they're throwing just to break a record, that doesn't mean anything.
• 41:39
  SPEAKER_02: That's not real football.
• 41:41
  SPEAKER_02: So it would have gotten scrutinized.
• 41:42
  SPEAKER_02: I get why they didn't do it, but man, I wanted them to.
• 41:45
  SPEAKER_03: I I still think that's Ben's one of Ben's best.
• 41:49
  SPEAKER_03: These two, I think, are his best games as a quarterback.
• 41:52
  SPEAKER_03: I really do.
• 41:52
  SPEAKER_03: It's like I know he didn't, yeah, we'll go over what happened, but so the next week, week nine, so okay, you had six in one game, 500 yards passing, right?
• 42:04
  SPEAKER_03: It's like you're no way you could repeat that, right?
• 42:09
  SPEAKER_03: Well, he did.
• 42:13
  SPEAKER_03: So he had another six touchdowns in um I don't know how many yards, how many yards did he have in that one?
• 42:20
  SPEAKER_03: I did not write that down.
• 42:22
  SPEAKER_03: It was like 300.
• 42:24
  SPEAKER_03: I think he had like 300.
• 42:25
  SPEAKER_03: Yeah.
• 42:27
  SPEAKER_03: Which and he threw and the crazy thing is, is he didn't throw any interceptions in two weeks in six touchdowns.
• 42:34
  SPEAKER_03: That's a 12 to none ratio.
• 42:37
  SPEAKER_03: That's just that's like there's only two two like way, like like I said, it's either like some ridiculous college football or high school football thing, or Madden football.
• 42:49
  SPEAKER_03: That's it.
• 42:50
  SPEAKER_03: That's the only like I don't think even in college you see like stuff like that.
• 42:56
  SPEAKER_03: I mean, and maybe in Madden, but uh it's that's video game stuff.
• 43:02
  SPEAKER_03: So yeah, he threw for 340 yards, but he repeats that six touchdowns, so 12 touchdowns and no interceptions, and they they beat the Ravens.
• 43:12
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah, that that was that was amazing that he was able to do that.
• 43:17
  SPEAKER_02: Um two weeks in a row.
• 43:19
  SPEAKER_02: I mean, that was just unbelievable.
• 43:21
  SPEAKER_02: And I and and you know, 12 touchdowns in two weeks.
• 43:26
  SPEAKER_02: I he was that was really when that offense, like you said, was at its absolute peak.
• 43:32
  SPEAKER_02: And it's it's just a shame looking back that that you know, that era did not produce a championship because there were games where they were just so you know, the other team could score 30 points and it wouldn't have mattered.
• 43:44
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah.
• 43:44
  SPEAKER_02: Because they were just so good.
• 43:47
  SPEAKER_03: What did happen at the end is the Steelers ended up playing the Ravens again that year and they lost to the Ravens 30 to 17.
• 43:56
  SPEAKER_03: 13 point loss and Ben through two interceptions.
• 43:58
  SPEAKER_03: But the key to that.
• 44:00
  SPEAKER_03: Was uh Le'Veon Bell was out that game.
• 44:03
  SPEAKER_03: So that definitely hampered their offense.
• 44:06
  SPEAKER_03: Without Le'Veon Bell, it's definitely a way different offense.
• 44:11
  SPEAKER_02: And that's and that's something that you know it was a shame that they didn't win during that era, but Bell was hurt for that playoff game.
• 44:18
  SPEAKER_02: The year after that, Bell and Brown were both out for the Denver playoff game, and Ben was playing with a separated shoulder, like we talked about.
• 44:27
  SPEAKER_02: So there were definitely some years where um, you know, they they they had that really good offense and and they just didn't have all the pieces come playoff time.
• 44:36
  SPEAKER_03: And and that defense, if they would have had just a little better defense, maybe they don't have to score.
• 44:42
  SPEAKER_03: You know, you can survive Bell being out one week and then come back to next and hopefully be able to get back to your scoring ways.
• 44:50
  SPEAKER_03: But it wasn't to be.
• 44:53
  SPEAKER_03: Um, I don't know, I I didn't look up like Brady or Merino or Montana.
• 44:58
  SPEAKER_03: Has any of those guys that you know, Tim, come close to doing that?
• 45:02
  SPEAKER_03: 12 touchdowns and no interceptions.
• 45:06
  SPEAKER_03: I don't believe so.
• 45:07
  SPEAKER_03: I mean Brady that one year threw like what 50 some touchdowns and Peyton Manning did that too.
• 45:15
  SPEAKER_03: But I mean that's that's just I never did look up how much how my how many touchdowns Ben did up for the year.
• 45:21
  SPEAKER_03: I I mean it was more than 12, I'm sure.
• 45:26
  SPEAKER_03: And uh I mean uh what other games, honorable mention games, were you thinking of for Ben?
• 45:34
  SPEAKER_02: So I was definitely thinking of the the the the six touchdown game.
• 45:38
  SPEAKER_02: So I'm glad you had that high on the list.
• 45:40
  SPEAKER_02: And that I I that's a good pick, actually, because you're right.
• 45:43
  SPEAKER_02: If you're doing games and not moments, then I think it's totally fair to put those above the uh the Super Bowl win.
• 45:50
  SPEAKER_02: Um some of the other ones I had were um the the 2007 Monday night game at home against Baltimore where Ben threw five touchdowns and all in the first half.
• 46:01
  SPEAKER_02: Uh the the 2015 game where they destroyed Denver um not destroyed, it was 34-27, but that was the year that Denver won the Super Bowl, and they had that just you know historically good defense, and Ben and Antonio Brown put up 34 points on them at Heinz Field.
• 46:20
  SPEAKER_02: I always thought that was a really good win.
• 46:23
  SPEAKER_03: Was that when bought was that like Osweiler's last game before they switched back to Peyton Manning?
• 46:29
  SPEAKER_03: They were like, no, we're going to Peyton Manning.
• 46:32
  SPEAKER_03: Yeah.
• 46:32
  SPEAKER_02: Well, they they realized at that point, like if we're gonna win, the defense is gonna win it for us, and we need a guy that, you know, if we need a clutch play, can still get us a clutch play, and clutch playing Peyton Manning was that guy, and Brock Osweiler was not.
• 46:47
  SPEAKER_02: Uh so yeah, those I put those two games on on there somewhere, um, you know, as honorable mentions.
• 46:54
  SPEAKER_02: Uh you could maybe put the um the Immaculate Extension game on there against the Ravens on Christmas Eve.
• 47:01
  SPEAKER_03: I was I was thinking of I didn't I didn't look at his stats for that one, but I I I did think of that one that I didn't maybe could knock Super Bowl 40 off, but I just they won a Super Bowl, and I know Ben didn't do well there, but but that's why it's like 10 or 11 on the list.
• 47:18
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah, yeah.
• 47:18
  SPEAKER_02: So you could put that on there.
• 47:20
  SPEAKER_02: And and I think it it's that one's overshadowed because Antonio Brown's the one that made the the big play, you know.
• 47:26
  SPEAKER_02: It's like putting making a Terry Bradshaw list and putting the Immaculate Reception game.
• 47:30
  SPEAKER_02: Like nobody remembers how Bradshaw played in that game, they just remember the the play at the end.
• 47:35
  SPEAKER_02: Um and then the only other game I thought of, Steve, was the uh, and we've certainly covered it ad nauseum on this show, but the uh the 2005 Colts game.
• 47:45
  SPEAKER_02: You know, because he did lead them down the field for for two touchdowns right at the beginning of the playoff game.
• 47:50
  SPEAKER_03: I thought I had that.
• 47:50
  SPEAKER_03: I guess I didn't have that one.
• 47:52
  SPEAKER_02: I I know I had it in there, and then he made the tackle, yes.
• 47:55
  SPEAKER_02: And then he made the tackle, right?
• 47:57
  SPEAKER_02: You know, which they don't win the Super Bowl that year if he doesn't make that play.
• 48:01
  SPEAKER_02: So I I you could have put that game on there too.
• 48:03
  SPEAKER_02: But no, I think I think your list is fine.
• 48:06
  SPEAKER_02: I don't disagree with any of it, but I I those are some honorable mentions.
• 48:09
  SPEAKER_03: Well, it's more for the tackle.
• 48:11
  SPEAKER_03: It's weird that game he's were although he played a pretty good game, and at least in the first half.
• 48:15
  SPEAKER_03: I think if he has a better second half, because like I remember in the second half he didn't do much of that Colts game.
• 48:23
  SPEAKER_03: But in the first half, he they came off throne and he actually played pretty well.
• 48:27
  SPEAKER_02: So and and to be fair to him, they were up 21-3.
• 48:31
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah, and you know, Cower, in typical Coward fashion, was like, okay, you know, well, let's let's just keep our lead, let's run the ball.
• 48:40
  SPEAKER_02: And and honestly, to be fair to Coward, that should have worked if not for just a horrific bad call on the Troy Palomo interception.
• 48:49
  SPEAKER_02: You know, they would have just iced that game and that would have worked, and they would have won by 11 points or whatever.
• 48:55
  SPEAKER_02: Um, but then as we detailed, and as I'm sure a lot of you listening remember, mass chaos ensued after that.
• 49:03
  SPEAKER_03: So well, that's the list.
• 49:08
  SPEAKER_03: I don't have anything else to add to it except for that too.
• 49:12
  SPEAKER_03: Um Ben, we're gonna miss him now that he's gone.
• 49:15
  SPEAKER_03: Hopefully, uh Kenny Pickett or Mitchell Trubisky can get their own list here, or maybe Mason Rudolph.
• 49:22
  SPEAKER_03: I don't I I doubt it, but I like Mason Rudolph, but I think he's gonna have to go somewhere else to find success.
• 49:28
  SPEAKER_03: I think he's done with the Steelers.
• 49:31
  SPEAKER_03: But anyway, maybe he'll prove me wrong.
• 49:34
  SPEAKER_03: Um, if if you uh give us a like on all your uh podcast services, that'd be great.
• 49:40
  SPEAKER_03: And um check us out on Twitter and tell me how you disagree with my list.
• 49:44
  SPEAKER_03: Uh I'll be sure to tell you how you're wrong.
• 49:49
  SPEAKER_03: Thanks for listening, and uh we'll talk to you next time.