Ben Roethlisberger Experiences a Decline

The impact of not having a reliable starting quarterback plagued the Pittsburgh Steelers last season. Despite having such an impactful defense, the team’s offense was so underwhelming that it was too much to overcome.

The thought is that Ben Roethlisberger will be able to step in and make a strong impact, resulting in the team rising as a whole. It’s a very reasonable thought considering the Steelers were the only team in the NFL to throw more interceptions (19) than touchdown passes (18) last season.

Of course, even if Roethlisberger weren’t to be one of the NFL’s elite quarterbacks in 2020, his production will undoubtedly be considerably greater than that of Devlin Hodges or Mason Rudolph. The question mostly becomes a matter of how far ‘Big Ben’ can take Pittsburgh.

The worst possible outcome for the Steelers is that Roethlisberger returns to the lineup but can’t manage to stay healthy. If taking that out of consideration, the next worst possibility is that he simply doesn’t provide the expected impact when he’s on the field.