Battered Ben finds way to win

The Steelers are 4-1 despite the quarterback’s aching throwing arm.

PITTSBURGH (AP) — Never before had the Pittsburgh Steelers done this: ask Ben Roethlisberger to win a game virtually by himself.

They always had Jerome Bettis, Willie Parker or Hines Ward, a line led by All-Pro guard Alan Faneca, and one of the NFL’s best defenses to take the pressure off their quarterback. Win the game? No, Big Ben, just don’t lose it.

Not any longer.

Down to their No. 4 running back, and playing a rival that had beaten them four consecutive times, the Steelers put this one squarely on Roethlisberger’s shoulders — a major gamble given his right shoulder is so sore he can barely raise his throwing arm.

Roethlisberger responded with the kind of game rarely seen by a Steelers quarterback since the days of Terry Bradshaw, one in which resilience and ruggedness, leadership and a determination to win were as important as an accurate throwing arm.

Roethlisberger picked himself up off the Jacksonville stadium turf nearly a dozen times, and seemed to pick up his team nearly that many times, too, in leading the 26-21 comeback victory over the Jaguars. That Sunday night victory gave the Steelers a 4-1 record going into their open week.

It wasn’t the best game of his career statistically, or the biggest — he won a Super Bowl in his second season, after all — but Roethlisberger may never play so important a role in the eyes of his teammates.

This is the very reason why, for the first time in his five-season career, Roethlisberger was chosen as a Steelers captain.

“Ben played a hell of a game, considering not practicing all week and I couldn’t catch from him all week,” Ward said. “He showed what kind of ballplayer he is.”

This one was all set up for the Steelers to lose. They were without injured running backs Parker, Rashard Mendenhall and Carey Davis, and their line was allowing Roethlisberger to get sacked at an alarming rate.

Roethlisberger threw an interception Rashean Mathis returned for a touchdown on Pittsburgh’s opening possession, then responded by going 26-of-41 for 309 yards and three touchdowns — the last a winning throw to Ward in the final two minutes.

That finished off an 80-yard, 11-play drive that became longer because of a 15-yard taunting penalty on wide receiver Nate Washington.

Twice during the drive, Roethlisberger appeared ready to be sacked — once by defensive end Reggie Hayward, the other by defensive tackle John Henderson — yet he broke free to complete key passes.

There was added pressure on Roethlisberger, too, on a possession that began with the Steelers down 21-20.

Kicker Jeff Reed injured his groin, and it’s uncertain whether he could have attempted a winning field goal or how close he would have needed to be to try one.

Set up to lose? Roethlisberger wasn’t about to let the Steelers do that, despite a sprained right shoulder that left him so uncomfortable following a 23-20 overtime win over Baltimore on Sept. 29 that he practiced only a few minutes last week.

It was the kind of performance that can convince teammates they can go a long way with this guy at quarterback, although Roethlisberger’s 43-17 regular season record should tell them that.

“Ben is an amazing player,” Mathis said. “He makes plays that other quarterbacks probably wouldn’t and, in that last drive, he definitely made some great plays.”