There’s talk this week that Steelers QB Ben Roethlisberger is not good and is in fact bad now after throwing five interceptions against the Jaguars last week. We talked about this on the podcast this week and I’m not buying it. I don’t think Big Ben is falling off a cliff overnight a la Peyton Manning.
The Chiefs aren’t buying it either.
“As I know him and have followed him in his career, we are getting ready to play a future Hall of Fame player,” Chiefs coach Andy Reid told the Pittsburgh media this week. “That is what we are getting ready for. Anything less you are thinking the wrong way. That is how we are going about it. We don’t look at it any different than that. We don’t care what anybody says or does. That is what we are getting ready for. I respect the heck out of him and the job he has done over the years.”
Chiefs QB Alex Smith says he caught part of last week’s five interception game but it’s just one game.
“For me, it is hard to put too much stock in one game,” Alex told the KC media. “I did get to see a little bit of that game because it was one before ours. There are also a lot of plays in that game that he did make in that game. A lot of production. Certainly, the turnovers hurt you. A couple of the picks, one of them falling down. So I know he was frustrated in the moment, I know he said this and it is easy to make too much of it. I think he is still playing at a pretty good level from afar.”
It comes back to this for me: Is Antonio Brown still on the team? Martavis Bryant? Le’Veon Bell? Big Ben can get them the ball and let them make the plays. They’re a dangerous group and they’ve repeatedly played very well against the Chiefs. I wouldn’t expect anything less this weekend at Arrowhead.