It’s been an emotional couple of weeks for Ben Roethlisberger as he’s heading towards his final days as a Pittsburgh Steelers player. The legendary quarterback has already played his last game at Heinz Field, he also played against the Ravens for the last time, and his career could finally conclude this weekend.
Theoutlook isn’t encouraging for the Steelers (9-7-1) as the 12-5 Kansas City Chiefs will be waiting for Pittsburgh on Sunday in the Wild Card round of the 2021-22 NFL Playoffs. Mike Tomlin‘s menhave made it into the postseason in dramatic fashion as the Las Vegas Raiders beat the Los Angeles Chargers on Sunday night with a game-winning field goal from Daniel Carlson in overtime.
That’s why many people believe Big Ben’s memorable ride with Pittsburghis about to be over at the hands of the AFC West champs. However, Patrick Mahomes was full of respect for Roethlisgberger and the Steelers.
Patrick Mahomes praises Ben Roethlisberger ahead of Chiefs vs. Steelers Wild Card game
“He’s an all-time great quarterback that’s going to be in the Hall of Fame one day, but he’s still playing great football right now,” Mahomes said in a press conference, as quoted by ProFootballTalk. “If you look at the big-time throws, he’s made to keep their season alive, we know it’s going to be a great challenge for us. Not just him, but that entire team. They have an attitude about them, a mindset they play with so we’re not taking them lightly at all. They’re a team that’s beat a lot of good football teams and so to get to play against Big Ben is an honor for me. He’s a great football player.”
Mahomes has also made sure of changing the narrative that this is an easy game for the Chiefs.“They have a lot of really good coaches over there, they have a lot of really good players and they’ve played in playoff games,” he said. “They understand how to change stuff up, they understand to go back to what they’re great at. So, we’re expecting a battle. We’ll be ready to go and we’re going to try to find answers for everything. They’re going to throw all different pitches to us, and we have to be able to respond and have success as much as possible.”
Ben Roethlisberger is not that optimistic about the Steelers’ chances
On the other hand, Big Ben is only expecting to have fun in what could be his last game in the NFL. He prefers to be humble and accept that this will probably be a tough game for his team, so they must make the best out of it.
“I would assume, as a group, you understand, that, you know, we probably aren’t supposed to be here,” Roethlisberger said. “We’re probably not a very good football team. Out of the 14 teams [I think] that are in, we’re probably No. 14. We’re double-digit underdogs in the playoffs, so, let’s just go play, have fun, and see what happens…I mean we’re probably 20-point underdogs,going up against arguably the best team in football. We don’t have a chance. So, let’s just go out there and have fun.”
Although that might just be a way to put all the pressure on the Chiefs, it’s true that the hosts are favorites to advance to the next round. However, if the Steelers pull off the shock, it would be another great memory for Big Ben. If not, he would have endedended his career in a playoff game anyway.
