Ben Roethlisberger Challenges Steelers Offense

The Pittsburgh Steelers legend isn't sold just yet.

Jan 16, 2022; Kansas City, Missouri, USA; Pittsburgh Steelers quarterback Ben Roethlisberger (7) throws a pass against the Kansas City Chiefs during the second half in an AFC Wild Card playoff football game at GEHA Field at Arrowhead Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Jay Biggerstaff-Imagn Images / Jay Biggerstaff-Imagn Images

While the Pittsburgh Steelers' recent string of victories has been nothing short of impressive, Ben Roethlisberger wants to see how the team performs against some of the top defenses in the NFL before he gets too ahead of himself.

On the most recent episode of his Footbahlin podcast, Roethlisberger threw a bit of cold water on any hype surrounding Pittsburgh's offense.

"How good are the defenses that we've played so far?" Roethlisberger said. "They've been down some really good DBs. They've been thin in the secondary. What's gonna happen when all of a sudden we play a team that's got a really good secondary, a really good pass rush? They can double a guy, or maybe not double George [Pickens] and put a really good guy on [Calvin] Austin [III]."

The Steelers' offense ranks among the middle of the pack in the league with 23.4 points (No. 15) and 328.1 total yards (No. 16) per game, though overall they've found far more success on the ground with 138.1 yards (No. 8) as opposed to 190.0 (No. 25) through the air.

Things have kicked into gear for the passing game since Russell Wilson has taken over the starting quarterback job, however. Through two contests against the New York Jets and New York Giants in Weeks 7 and 8, respectively, the 35-year-old has thrown for 542 yards and three touchdowns while completing 63.2% of his passes. Furthermore, the entire offense as a whole recorded 835 yards over that stretch while helping the Steelers win by a combined 30 points.

Both the Jets (No. 12) and Giants (No. 14) have scoring defenses that currently place inside the top-15, and the latter has posted the most sacks of any team with 35 while the former ranks sixth with 23, meaning neither unit was any slouch.

Building off of that, Pittsburgh has already squared off against two of the NFL's other elite defenses in the Los Angeles Chargers (13.0 PPG, 305.4 YPG allowed) and Denver Broncos (30 sacks, 282.6 YPG allowed), so its road to a 6-2 record hasn't come without its challenges.

Roethlisberger further expressed that while he'd like to see the Steelers prove themselves against premier opponents in the future, they've handled their business thus far.

"I just want to pump the brakes a little bit, just because we don't know what we're gonna get when we face a really good defense," Roethlisberger said. "But, they're doing what they have to do right now, and that's all that matters."

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