Ben Roethlisberger throws coaches under bus over spike play

Ben Roethlisberger is putting the blame on his coaches for the fake spike play the Pittsburgh Steelers ran that ultimately cost them the game against the New England Patriots on Sunday.

The Steelers had a touchdown overturned on first down against the Patriots down 27-24 in the final 30 seconds of the game. After a completion went short of the end zone on second down, the clock was running. The Steelers could have attempted a play on third down to go for the win, or they could have spiked the ball and kicked a field goal on fourth down to play for overtime.

Big Ben said after the game that he wanted to spike the ball, kick on fourth down, and go to overtime. He says the coaches instead said to go for it.

Ben Roethlisberger says there was a difference of opinion on #Steelers final play. "It wasn't a fake spike. I was yelling 'clock it' b/c I felt that was the thing to do, to clock it and get yourself one play. And it came from the sideline: 'Don't clock it, don't clock it.'"

— Aditi Kinkhabwala (@AKinkhabwala) December 18, 2017

The result was Roethlisberger running a fake spike play and trying to force a pass into traffic in the end zone, which ended up being intercepted, sealing the win for the Patriots.

This is insane. pic.twitter.com/60ifqIzddS

— Dan Levy (@DanLevyThinks) December 18, 2017

As the quarterback of the team, Roethlisberger has to show better leadership than this. If his plan was to spike it and kick, he should have stuck to it. And once he decided to run a play, he should have been much smarter than to force a pass. The coaches didn’t make him do that; they trust him to play smarter. Rather than pass the buck, he needs to take responsibility, which is something he did earlier this season.