Ben Roethlisberger fears ‘the tradition of the Pittsburgh Steelers is done’ as he claims people are no longer ‘afraid’ to play against his former team.
Roethlisberger spent all 18 years of his NFL career with the Steelers, with the legendary quarterback winning two Super Bowls and making six Pro Bowls during his time in Pittsburgh.
Yet two years since he bowed out from the sport, the Steelers find themselves sweating over a place in the playoffs following back-to-back home defeats against the Arizona Cardinals and New England Patriots.
Those losses have left Mike Tomlin’s team with a 7-6 record and a battle on their hands to secure a playoff spot, with this weekend’s game against the Indianapolis Colts likely to be crucial.
However, ahead of that game Roethlisberger has come down hard on his old team and claimed they have lost the fear factor made famous in his days.
‘I just feel like people aren’t afraid to play the Pittsburgh Steelers anymore,’ The 41-year-old said on the latest episode of his Footbahlin podcast.
‘Maybe the tradition of the Pittsburgh Steelers is done. Maybe it needs to be formed a new kind of way, I don’t know.’
The Steelers have struggled in recent outings without starting quarterback Kenny Pickett, who recently underwent surgery on his ankle.
Following a 24-10 loss to the Cardinals at the start of the month, Pittsburgh were beaten by the 2-10 Patriots on the latest edition of Thursday Night Football, which has dropped them into a tie with five other 7-6 teams vying for the final two AFC wild-card spots.
And Roethlisberger believes a tactical blunder from the head coach cost them last time out against New England.
In that defeat, the Steelers were left with no timeouts down the stretch after being forced to use one before a fourth-and-1 quarterback sneak with 7:13 left in the fourth quarter.
But Roethlisberger said: ‘At the end of that game, if we have one more timeout, we have another chance. You can’t afford in the second half of games to burn silly timeouts and not to have them late in the game.
‘To me, that’s bad coaching.’
Tomlin’s Steelers make the trip to Indianapolis this weekend knowing a win is required to keep pace in the playoff race.
Their regular season will conclude with difficult fixtures against the Cleveland Browns, Seattle Seahawks and Baltimore Ravens.
