The Pittsburgh Steelers came alive late in the first half against the Houston Texans Monday night, thanks in large part to some timely turnovers by their defense. After crawling out of the gate and finding themselves in a 0-13 hole halfway through the second quarter, the Steelers scored 21 points in 73 seconds to take a 21-13 lead into the half. Ben Roethlisberger then proceeded to tell the media where to stick it.
“They don’t know what they’re talking about because they’re not here so we kind of just laugh it off,” Roethlisberger said in a one-on-one interview with ESPN’s Lisa Salters. “A lot of people outside of this locker room are going to talk, are going to point fingers. We don’t have time for that.”
While he didn’t name names, Roethlisberger was almost certainly calling out former teammate Hines Ward. Last week, Ward said he believed Big Ben was to blame for Pittsburgh’s recent struggles on offense — not offensive coordinator Todd Haley.
“A lot of the media likes to point fingers, and a lot of times they don’t know what they’re talking about,” the Steelers quarterback added.
Sure, they got some help from their defense, but the Steelers put on a clinic in the red zone late in the first half. They even ran a trick play where Antonio Brown faked like he was going to run and turned the other way to throw a touchdown pass. Second-year running back Le’Veon Bell finally found the end zone and looked every bit like the feature back the Steelers drafted him to be.
Despite their struggles, the Steelers are now 4-3 and still in fine position in the AFC North division. They have tough games the next two weeks against the Indianapolis Colts and Baltimore Ravens, but both are at home. Pittsburgh shouldn’t be buried just yet.
