BEN ROETHLISBERGER
Quarterback
The San Francisco 49ers possessed the ball for 36 minutes and 59 seconds. Their quarterback, Colin Kaepernick, completed 33-of-46 (71.7 percent) for 335 yards, with two touchdowns and no interceptions for a rating of 106.7. This on an afternoon when the 49ers offense finished with 409 total net yards of offense.
The 49ers' time of possession didn't matter. Kaepernick's statistics didn't matter, and neither did the amount of total offense rolled up by the unit. None of that mattered because of Ben Roethlisberger.
None of what the 49ers accomplished statistically during the game mattered, because in every instance Ben Roethlisberger either had an answer to negate what had just happened, or even better, he had authored something earlier that ultimately rendered what the 49ers would end up doing as nothing but statistical fluff.
In the Steelers' 43-18 victory today at Heinz Field, Roethlisberger completed 21-of-27 (77.8 percent) for 369 yards, with three touchdowns and no interceptions for a rating of 155.8. He was magnificent in the no-huddle. He got to the running game at the right times. He spread the ball around to five different receivers, and his three touchdown passes went to three different receivers. He was 2-for-2 on two-point conversion passes. He was a critical factor in the Steelers converting 60 percent on third downs, in the offense being a perfect 5-for-5 in the red zone, and in the team building a 29-3 halftime lead. And just to make sure, on each of the Steelers' two fourth-quarter possessions that followed 49ers touchdowns, Roethlisberger drove the Steelers to answering touchdowns that maintained the margin of their comfortable lead.
Ben Roethlisberger is the Steelers Digest Player of the Week.
Also considered were Ryan Shazier, who had 15 tackles, including three for loss, plus a sack, a forced fumble, and a fumble recovery; Cam Heyward, who had seven tackles, including two for loss, plus a sack, and another pressure on the quarterback that helped Shazier get his sack; Antwon Blake, who had 10 tackles, including one for loss, and a pass defensed; Stephon Tuitt, who had four tackles, 1.5 sacks for his first multi-sack game as a professional, and two pressures; Antonio Brown, who caught nine passes for 195 yards and a touchdown; DeAngelo Williams, who finished with 92 yards from scrimmage – 77 rushing plus 15 receiving – and tied a franchise record with three rushing touchdowns in a game; and the offensive line – Kelvin Beachum, Ramon Foster, Cody Wallace, David DeCastro, and Marcus Gilbert – who allowed all of that offensive production to happen while keeping Roethlisberger's uniform clean.
