Ben Roethlisberger's NFL-leading 5,129 passing yards were accompanied by a league-leading 16 interceptions.
The latter, to an extent, is part of the cost of doing business the way Roethlisberger does it for the Steelers.
"I'm a guy that's gonna take chances," he assessed after his 2018 season had been completed. "I could probably not throw some of the passes that have gotten intercepted and take a sack or not force some balls here and there that end up being good plays, but that's the way I play the game."
It was a lot more spectacular than maddening this season, as Roethlisberger's career-high 34 touchdown passes will attest.
One of the most memorable of those, a 38-yard strike to wide receiver Antonio Brown on Dec. 2 against the Chargers, was representative of Roethlisberger at his best.
He initially held the ball behind ample protection after completing a five-step drop, eventually flushed left to buy a little more time and then finally hit Brown running across the back of the end zone away from double-coverage.
"Sometimes you want to say, 'Where did that come from?'" offensive coordinator Randy Fichtner observed in the wake of the Chargers game. "And then other times you're like, 'Where did that come from?' It's just a matter of how you say it.
Take a look at the top photos from the Steelers 2018 season
Ben Roethlisberger
Cameron Heyward
Terrell Edmunds
Cameron Heyward and T.J. Watt
Jordan Dangerfield
Sean Davis
James Conner
Ben Roethlisberger on the run
Anthony Chickillo
Ben Roethlisberger
Vince Williams
A 2018 Regular Season game between the Pittsburgh Steelers and the Denver Broncos on Sunday, November 25, 2018. The Broncos defeated the Steelers 24-17.
Antonio Brown
Alejandro Villanueva
Jaylen Samuels
JuJu Smith-Schuster
Tyler Matakevich
Terrell Edmunds
Antonio Brown
Antonio Brown
Cameron Heyward
JuJu Smith-Schuster
Sean Davis
Vance McDonald
Morgan Burnett and Terrell Edmunds
Chukwuma Okorafor
Jesse James
Joshua Dobbs
James Conner
A 2018 Regular Season game between the Pittsburgh Steelers and the Los Angeles Chargers on December 2, 2018. The Chargers defeated the Steelers 33-30.
Ben Roethlisberger
JuJu Smith-Schuster
Vince Williams
JuJu Smith-Schuster
Ola Adeniyi and Cameron Heyward
Joe Haden
Joe Haden and L.J. Fort
Ryan Shazier
David DeCastro
JuJu Smith-Schuster
Sean Davis
Mike Tomlin
Jordan Dangerfield
Antonio Brown
Vance McDonald
JuJu Smith-Schuster
Terrell Edmunds
T.J. Watt
JuJu Smith-Schuster
James Conner
Ryan Switzer
Vance McDonald
T.J. Watt
Ben Roethlisberger
James Conner
Cameron Heyward
Jesse James and Vance McDonald
Antonio Brown
A 2018 Regular Season game between the Pittsburgh Steelers and the Cincinnati Bengals on December 30, 2018.
T.J. Watt
James Conner
Joshua Dobbs
Jesse James
T.J. Watt
JuJu Smith-Schuster
T.J. Watt
Antonio Brown
A 2018 Regular Season game between the Pittsburgh Steelers and the Carolina Panthers on November 8, 2018.
JuJu Smith-Schuster
David DeCastro
Ben Roethlisberger
Cameron Heyward and Vince Williams
Ben Roethlisberger and Mrs. Rooney
Ben Roethlisberger
Mike Tomlin
Cameron Heyward
Antonio Brown
Jesse James
A 2018 Regular Season game between the Pittsburgh Steelers and the Tampa Bay Buccaneers on Monday, September 24, 2018. The Steelers defeated the Buccaneers 30-27.
Mike Tomlin
Ben Roethlisberger
James Conner
Antonio Brown and JuJu Smith-Schuster
Joshua Dobbs
Sean Davis
Vance McDonald
Antonio Brown
Artie Burns, Cameron Heyward and Vince Williams
A 2018 Regular Season game between the Pittsburgh Steelers and the Tampa Bay Buccaneers on Monday, September 24, 2018. The Steelers defeated the Buccaneers 30-27.
James Conner
James Conner
Roosevelt Nix
Zach Banner
"That throw he made the other day (against the Chargers), not many people are making those throws. And the ones that are, you know their names, (Aaron) Rodgers, (Tom) Brady, (Drew) Brees, we're talking about the best players in the game.
"And then sometimes you just say, 'C'mon Ben, you can't make that play every time, sometimes it bites you.'"
The Steelers trust Roethlisberger's instincts and his ability to execute throws a lot of other quarterbacks wouldn't attempt enough that they've commenced negotiations on a contract extension for Roethlisberger, Steelers president Art Rooney II confirmed last week in a conference call with Steelers Nation Unite members.
"We've already started talking to him and his representative about extending that contract," Rooney said. "I think Ben has some good years left. I'd still say he's close to being in the prime of his career."
The Steelers also trust Roethlisberger's experience and his leadership.
"I think he's able to stand up and, after 15 years of being a leader of this team and caring, I think he's able to stand up and say 'my bad,'" Fichtner said. "That's part of the game, too.
"I'm not afraid to say it. I don't think he's afraid to say it. And that's kind of what we're hoping to develop amongst our group. If I make a mistake, they make a mistake, hey, I'll own up to it, to my buddies, my teammates, and I'm gonna try not to make that mistake again."
Roethlisberger's 5,000-yard season was historic on a league level as well as in Steelers' history.
Only Brees (five times), Brady, Peyton Manning, Dan Marino and Matthew Stafford had eclipsed that milestone previously.
Patrick Mahomes also did so in 2018.
The last of Roethlisberger's 16 interceptions, conversely, stood as an example of what can happen when you put the ball in the air an NFL-leading 675 times, despite the best of intentions.
Bengals safety Shawn Williams' 58-yard pick-six in the second quarter of the regular-season finale occurred on a play on which the Steelers were convinced the Bengals had jumped offside.
"Never would have thrown it if I didn't think we had a free play," Roethlisberger said. "Sometimes, fluky things happen.
"But we've also had some big plays happen when things like that happen."
Take a look at the top photos from the Steelers 2018 season
A 2018 Regular Season game between the Pittsburgh Steelers and the New England Patriots on December 16, 2018. The Steelers defeated the Patriots 17-10.
Roosevelt Nix and JuJu Smith-Schuster
Nat Berhe and Mike Hilton
David DeCastro
A 2018 Regular Season game between the Pittsburgh Steelers and the Los Angeles Chargers on December 2, 2018.
Ryan Switzer
Cameron Sutton
Sean Davis
Cameron Heyward
Mason Rudolph
Chris Boswell
Vance McDonald
JuJu Smith-Schuster
Aaron Rodgers and Antonio Brown
Marcus Allen
JuJu Smith-Schuster
Ben Roethlisberger
Jaylen Samuels
Stephon Tuitt
Head Coach Mike Tomlin
Bud Dupree
JuJu Smith-Schuster
Jonathan Bostic and Javon Hargrave
Joe Haden
Antonio Brown
Head Coach Mike Tomlin
T.J. Watt
Jaylen Samuels
James Washington
Jaylen Samuels
Cameron Heyward
A 2018 Regular Season game between the Pittsburgh Steelers and the Cincinnati Bengals on December 30, 2018.
Anthony Chickillo
Cameron Heyward
A 2018 Regular Season game between the Pittsburgh Steelers and the Cleveland Browns on October 28, 2018. The Steelers defeated the Browns 33-18.
James Conner
Cameron Heyward
Ben Roethlisberger
Ryan Switzer
Jesse James
A 2018 Regular Season game between the Pittsburgh Steelers and the Denver Broncos on Sunday, November 25, 2018. The Broncos defeated the Steelers 24-17.
Ben Roethlisberger
Head Coach Mike Tomlin
James Conner
Cameron Heyward and Sean Davis
Antonio Brown and James Conner
T.J. Watt
Cameron Heyward
Bud Dupree
Antonio Brown
Jesse James
James Conner
Marcus Gilbert, David DeCastro, Maurkice Pouncey, Ramon Foster and Alejandro Villanueva
Ben Roethlisberger
Vance McDonald
T.J. Watt and Stephon Tuitt
Anthony Chickillo
T.J. Watt
A 2018 Regular Season game between the Carolina Panthers on November 8, 2018.
Stephon Tuitt
Jordan Berry
Jaylen Samuels and Ramon Foster
Jesse James
Ramon Foster, JuJu Smith-Schuster, and Vance McDonald
Antonio Brown and Jaylen Samuels
JuJu Smith-Schuster
A 2018 Regular Season game between the Pittsburgh Steelers and the Baltimore Ravens on September 30, 2018. The Ravens defeated the Steelers 26-14.
James Conner, Antonio Brown, and JuJu Smith-Schuster
JuJu Smith-Schuster
Ben Roethlisberger
JuJu Smith-Schuster, Ryan Switzer, Ben Roethlisberger and Darrius Heyward-Bey
Sean Davis, Jonathan Bostic, and Coty Sensabaugh
Ola Adeniyi
T.J. Watt
Jordan Dangerfield
L.J. Fort
Joe Manganiello, Sofia Vergara and JuJu Smith-Schuster
Antonio Brown
Morgan Burnett
Vance McDonald
Chris Boswell
Anthony Chickillo
Roosevelt Nix
Ben Roethlisberger
Joe Haden and Mike Hilton
Sean Davis and L.J. Fort
James Conner and JuJu Smith-Schuster
Daniel McCullers
Cameron Heyward and Jonathan Bostic
Antonio Brown
Vance McDonald
Joe Haden
Ben Roethlisberger and Cameron Heyward
