When the Pittsburgh Steelers came out of the locker room on Sunday after halftime, they increased their offense to 11 and put on a show. The Steelers were down 21-7 to start the second half and looked lost. But when fullback Ben Roethlisberger took over, he threw 244 yards and three halves to beat the Indianapolis Colts.
But before you start wondering if this was a case of Roethlisberger just playing in the dirt, it was not. At least according to tighthead Eric Ebron. He spoke to the media on Monday and when the offense began, it was not a case of improvisation, and the Steelers practiced all the plays.
What was the change? It felt as if Roethlisberger had just taken control of naming the offensive plays, regardless of what offensive coordinator Randy Fichtner had submitted. In the first half, the Steelers played the same everyday, predictable offense that has plagued this group for weeks.
In the second half, Roethlisberger devised Fichtner’s plan and did it himself. Therefore, the transgression began. If the Steelers want to win from now on, Roethlisberger should be allowed to call off the plays from the start of the game and give him full autonomy over the offensive game plan.