Ben Roethlisberger Highlights One Big Issue With Steelers' Offense

The Pittsburgh Steelers' offense has looked much better over the past few weeks, but that doesn't mean this unit can't still improve on all fronts. Much of the reason the Steelers have improved on offense is what they've done in the run game. We have to give a lot of credit to Jaylen Warren, though there's no guarantee he'll continue to play at the level he has in the first couple of weeks of the season. 

The reality is that Warren has played much better than he has in other parts of his career, and there's a scenario where he doesn't keep playing at this level. 

As for the Steelers' passing game, there are other problems to solve, and one is getting plays off late in the play clock. 

For a veteran like Aaron Rodgers, who one could argue has the greatest IQ any quarterback has ever had in NFL history, not giving him time is far from ideal. When Rodgers has time to mess with defenses, he can typically draw flags and do things other quarterbacks in the league can't. 

Former Steelers quarterback Ben Roethlisberger recently spoke about why that could be such a big problem in a situation like this.

“If you don't have time, then you're stuck in what you have,” Roethlisberger said, H/T USA Today. “And sometimes you can get in a situation where like you you're at the line of scrimmage, you're a little late getting there and it's like, 'Oh man, the play we have called is no good.' And it's like, okay, I gotta I got to hurry and change something. And you start to change it and then it's like, oh shoot, now I'm at like 3 seconds…

“When you're at the line already at 15 minimum, 20, then you feel like you have an eternity. Then you can do it as hard counts. You can do all the stuff you want. Now you're just playing. Now you're having fun.”

Roethlisberger was in this league for a long time and, like Rodgers, understands what it takes to win at a very high level. 

The two quarterbacks differ in that Rodgers is much better than Roethlisberger was, even with how great Big Ben was. 

Regardless, he also understands the benefits of getting plays off in time and changing things at the line. If Rodgers doesn't have that in his back pocket, even if the Steelers' offense keeps playing well, it won't be as good as it could be.