PITTSBURGH — Two games into the 2020 season, the Steelers are averaging 26 points per game, a touchdown more than they did a year ago. They’re 2-0 for the first time since 2017 and have a chance to get to 3-0 Sunday with a win over the Texans at Heinz Field that would get them to 3-0 for the first time since 2010.
But that hasn’t made much of the fan base happy. Depending on who you talk to, the Steelers aren’t running the ball enough, or they’re running it too much. They aren’t throwing to the tight ends enough. They need to use the fullback more. They need to get the ball to rookie wide receiver Chase Claypool. The list goes on and on.
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“You look at the win-loss column,” Roethlisberger said Wednesday. “I know that’s probably not the answer that you’re looking for, but at the end of the day, it doesn’t matter who is getting the ball, it doesn’t matter how many times we’re running or throwing it, it doesn’t matter who is getting their stats, it matters that the team is getting that one stat that’s most important. That’s a win.”
For Ben Roethlisberger, it’s all just elevator music. He’s only been interested in one statistic.
The Steelers threw the ball at a 2-1 ratio in 2018, Roethlisberger’s last full season in the NFL. This season, their run-pass ratio sits at 59-41 through two games. They are the only team in the NFL to have a 100-yard rusher in each of the first two games of the season -- with Benny Snell and James Conner doing that -- and yet there’s a feeling they aren’t running the ball enough -- or effectively.
Roethlisberger doesn’t feel that has been the case.
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