Many believe the Pittsburgh Steelers have a Super Bowl-caliber team this year, unless, of course, they meet up with the high-powered New England Patriots, Green Bay Packers or New Orleans Saints.
Ben Roethlisberger is in his eighth season in the NFL, and he believed the Steelers’ offense is just as talented and could be the most-explosive since he’s been their starting quarterback.
“There’s a lot of talent, so I think we should throw the ball every play,” Roethlisberger joked after practice Monday. “Honestly, though, there’s a lot of young talent, especially when I look around and see that at eight years I’m the second-oldest guy on the offense (to Hines Ward’s 14 seasons).
“So, that says a lot about how young we are, but we do have a lot of talent all the way around, and it’s going to be fun to see how everything plays out this year. … We’re making progress and getting a little better every day. And, overall, I think we’re making good progress offensively.”
With Rashard Mendenhall and Isaac Redman at running back and wideouts Ward, Mike Wallace, Jerricho Cotchery, Emmanuel Sanders and Antonio Brown should be able to move the ball in any manner they want. The offensive line is crucial to that equation as well, but the Steelers have a chance to be really good.
“As good as we want to be,” Roethlisberger said. “Honestly, I think we can run the ball, and I think we can throw the ball. But it’s going to be up to us. Can we identify? Can we protect? Can we open up holes? Can we throw? Can we catch? As good as we want to be, I guess. (And) it’s definitely one of the keys.
“We relied for such a long time on this defense to carry us. Obviously, there’s games when the offense does some great things, but as a team and an offense we want to step up every week and be as valuable an asset to this team, to be a team that scores lots of points and makes it easier on their defense.”