Ben Roethlisberger Blames Coaching for Killing Steelers Tradition

"Maybe the tradition of the Pittsburgh Steelers might be done," said Roethlisberger.

PITTSBURGH -- The Pittsburgh Steelers "way" is under question by nearly everyone after the team's fall to the two-win New England Patriots and Arizona Cardinals in back-to-back weeks. Joining the conversation, and following suit with a few other black and gold legends is former quarterback Ben Roethlisberger, who doesn't know if the "Steeler way" exists anymore.

"Maybe the tradition of the Pittsburgh Steelers is done," Roethlisberger said on his podcast Footbahlin'. 

Roethlisberger alluded to the coaching as a reason the Steelers have struggled to find their way this season and said it all has to start with decision-making, which he has questioned recently. 

"You can't afford in the second half of games to burn silly timeouts and to not have them late in the game," Roethlisberger said. "To me, that's bad coaching. There's some feel you have to have in those situations because timeouts can be so valuable, as we saw in this game. If we have one more timeout there, we get a completion, we can work the middle of the field and all you got to do is give Boz [Chris Boswell] a 60-yard chance. Give him a chance and he'll tie the game. I like my chances in overtime because they scored all their points early and the momentum had shifted."

When it comes to the Steelers way, many former players - such as Ryan Clark earlier this week - have mentioned how there's no accountability within the team. That lack of accountability leads to less leadership and, therefore, lack of "fire," Roethlisberger said. 

"Who is grabbing someone by the face mask and saying, 'That's not what we do,'" he said. "Is that happening? Yes, you have guys on defense doing it, but you need guys on other sides of the ball doing it. ... You need someone to stand up in that room, on offense, and be like, hey, this isn't what it means to wear the black and gold.

"This isn't what has been handed down from those teams of the '70s. The Steel Curtain, the four Super Bowls, the Nolls, the Bradshaws, the Blounts. All those people, it's unbelievable."

And topping it off, he pointed to a cause many have also addressed, that not every player in the locker room has a team-first mentality. Najee Harris refused to answer the question of whether or not everyone was team-first oriented following the Steelers' loss to the Browns this season. Since then, it's remained a heavy topic of conversation surrounding Pittsburgh. 

"I understand the further you get away from that, the harder it is unless it's being passed down and carried the right way," Roethlisberger said. "It just feels like that's something that's been lost on this team. I've felt that certain guys on the team aren't in it for the team, they're in it for themselves. Well, now some of the guys on the team are saying the same thing."

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