Ben Roethlisberger, Steelers will need to fix road struggles in Cleveland
PITTSBURGH 鈥� It鈥檚 no secret that Ben Roethlisberger and the Steelers offense have been considerably worse playing on the road this season compared to Heinz Field.
The Steelers are 1-3 in away games this season and, other than the win in the season opener against the Redskins, haven鈥檛 had 300 yards total offense. Roethisberger鈥檚 stats aren鈥檛 good, either: A 58.3 completion percentage, 74.2 QB rating and a 5-to-5 touchdown-to-interception ratio. In comparison, he鈥檚 been stellar at home, with 15 touchdowns to two interceptions and a 3-1 record. Collectively, the offense has out-gained its opponents by more than 500 yards (2,069-1,555) in five games in Pittsburgh.
With the Steelers at 4-5 after four consecutive losses, they鈥檙e entering must-win territory on a week-to-week basis for any hope of a playoff berth. They can鈥檛 afford any more road woes, starting this week in Cleveland against the Browns.
鈥淚t鈥檚 the comfort level of being home, using the cadence,鈥� Roethlisberger said Wednesday. 鈥淲hen you get on the road, obviously it鈥檚 a lot louder. You鈥檙e using the silent count, and that means head bobs from the (shot)gun or under center, so sometimes timing can be off a little bit. But there鈥檚 no real excuses.
鈥淲e鈥檝e prided ourselves in years past here in being a great road football team, and we need to do that. We need to start this week.鈥�
In order to combat some of the road struggles, offensive coordinator Todd Haley has went with various game plans. The Steelers hardly ran the ball in the loss to the Dolphins, but attempted to establish the run for the first three quarters against Baltimore. Both were to no avail, and both were losses.
鈥淲e鈥檒l do whatever we need to do, and whatever is best for the team,鈥� Roethlisberger said. 鈥淲e鈥檒l formulate a game plan, which we鈥檝e already started. We鈥檒l continue to tweak it, move some things around and change some things throughout the week. Whenever Saturday night comes, we鈥檒l hammer it down and finalize what our game plan is going to be with the ability to change in the middle of the game whatever going on.鈥�
Roethlisberger said what likely won鈥檛 be in the plan this week are deep throws downfield. The forecast in Cleveland is calling for 1-3 inches of snow and wind gusts of up to 50 mph on Sunday. Expect a heavy dose of Le鈥橵eon Bell and a frequency of short to intermediate routes.
鈥淵ou鈥檝e got to spin the ball,鈥� Roethlisberger said of the conditions. 鈥淚鈥檓 not a guy that when I throw it, it spins a lot. So I鈥檓 going to wear a glove this week in practice because if there鈥檚 going to be 30 mph winds, I鈥檓 going to have to wear a glove on Sunday.鈥�