Ben Roethlisberger is the Rodney Dangerfield of quarterbacks.
You know, he doesn't get any respect. At least not in the world of fantasy football-driven analytics. But while Roethlisberger might not always get that respect off the field, the respect he usually gets on it is different.
Now in his 15th season, Roethlisberger doesn't always put up gaudy numbers -- though that has certainly changed in recent years -- but he does the most important thing for a quarterback. He wins. A lot.
Since entering the NFL in 2004, Roethlisberger has led the Steelers to a record of 142-65-1 in regular season games he has started. That places him seventh in wins heading into Sunday's game at Denver against the Broncos (4-6), just five behind Dan Marino on the all-time list.
He's been to three Super Bowls, winning two. But when it comes to getting accolades such as a league MVP award or even being recognized as one of the top QBs in the game, that has escaped him.
"I don't think there's ever been an emphasis on anything he's done," Steelers offensive coordinator Randy Fichtner said of Roethlisberger Thursday. "I think it's about team wins. I think people get used to us winning and take that for granted. I don't."
But in addition to the wins, Roethlisberger also has all of the other numbers that typically bring plenty of accolades for a quarterback.
He's seventh in NFL history in passing yards (54,267) and touchdowns (352), and now sixth in game-winning drives led with 41, after directing one last week in a 20-16 defeat of Jacksonville.
Yet Roethlisberger gets nary a mention in the NFL MVP race, despite the Steelers holding a 7-2-1 record. And some pundits don't even have him rated in their top-10 quarterbacks for this season. The oft-cited Pro Football Focus, for example, had Roethlisberger rated 16th among the league's quarterbacks this season in an article released this week, behind such luminaries as Cincinnati's Andy Dalton and Tampa Bay quarterbacks Jameis Winston and Ryan Fitzpatrick.
More people were talking about Patrick Mahomes' 478-yard, six-touchdown game against the Rams -- despite turning the ball over five times -- than were Roethlisberger's comeback win against Jacksonville's top-rated pass defense.
Roethlisberger doesn't care about things like that -- at least not publicly.
As he always says, "I'm just concerned about winning."
That's true, but he does hear things, such as last week against Jacksonville when Jaguars linebacker Telvin Smith let him know every time he threw an interception. Roethlisberger finished with three of them. But he also threw for 314 yards, two touchdown passes and then rushed for the game-winning score with five seconds remaining.
"He didn't," Ramon Foster told me when I asked if Roethlisberger said anything or gave any reaction to Smith tracking him down to make sure he let Roethlisberger know when he threw an interception.
Did that surprise Foster?
"No," he told me. "He was just kind of like, I'll get a last shot at this. And he did it. That was the best thing about it. He knew it, and we did too.
"You think he didn't want to run that touchdown in himself? Absolutely he did. But that's what you get when you have a quarterback like that. When you have a guy like that, you want to have him on your side. That's what we've been saying for years. I'll put him up against anybody and he's more than likely going to win."
Fichtner and his teammates appreciated what Roethlisberger did in that game, even if the Jaguars didn't.
"Last week was special," Fichtner said. "He wasn't perfect. I wasn't perfect. But he kept fighting and found a way to win. At the end of the day, you realize some of the good things he did at the end of the game, and that's spectacular. You don't want to be put in that position to have to come from behind, but he's capable of doing it. And he usually does."
Roethlisberger enters the game against the Broncos fourth in the NFL in passing yards with 3,202, putting him on pace for 5,123 this season. He's never topped 5,000 before in his career. His 21 touchdown passes put him on pace for 34, which also would be a career high.
Roethlisberger might not get the accolades off the field, but other players -- at least those outside of Jacksonville -- respect him, even if many of the pundits do not.
"He’s Big Ben," said Broncos' outside linebacker Von Miller. "Not only is he a great quarterback, he’s hard to get down. He’s like a defensive tackle out there. He’s hard to bring down and he has great targets. Him and AB (Antonio Brown), their chemistry is probably second to none — no other quarterback receiver duo in the league. They have that type of chemistry and connections. Him and JuJu (Smith-Schuster) are starting to work on that same connection, as well. Extremely deadly on offense."
