The Pittsburgh Steelers face the Baltimore Ravens twice a year in what is currently the best rivalry in all of football. There is mutual respect between the two franchises that is infused with a healthy desire to beat their opponents’ brains out when they step on the field. Unlike other rivalries in the NFL that is not hyperbole, it is the most physical rivalry in football and has consistently produced hard-fought games that are rarely decided by more than one score.
Matt Freed, Pittsburgh Post Gazette
Pittsburgh Steelers QB Ben Roethlisberger and Baltimore Ravens QB Lamar Jackson hug each other after a game.
Lamar Jackson and Ben Roethlisberger only faced each other three times even though they were in the same division for five seasons. Injuries kept them from facing off more frequently in six possible matchups when Jackson and Roethlisberger could have faced each other over three seasons. The Steelers’ future Hall of Fame signal-caller retired 3-0 against the Ravens’ franchise quarterback. Jackson has only played five games of a possible eight in his career against Pittsburgh and has posted a 2-3 record as a starter during those meetings.
Roethlisberger released his most recent episode of his Footbahlin with Ben Roethlisberger podcast with cohost Spencer T’eo on Tuesday night. He welcomed special guest Ryan Shazier, and they discussed faith, family and football while tasting three beers during the episode. It was a lively discussion that took a turn near the end of the episode when Roethlisberger was discussing running backs with Shazier and his thoughts on Texas Longhorns star Bijan Robinson.
“Even if I compliment him, Bob Griffin will find a way to turn it around negatively,” Roethlisberger remarked sarcastically. “So, I’m not going to compliment him.”
“I was actually going to write him back on Twitter,” Shazier chimed in. “Cause he didn’t use the whole thing.”
Roethlisberger came under heavy fire from the clout-chasing fledgling analyst Robert Griffin III who took a clip from the previous podcast completely out of context. Griffin twisted the Steelers quarterback’s words to paint him as a bitter old retiree who was just trying to stay relevant by attacking Jackson.
Multiple members of the ESPN and FS1 mobs like Shannon Sharpe and Skip Bayless piled on Roethlisberger with ridiculous attacks about how Jackson, who had never beaten the so-called washed-up version of the Steelers legend, was a better pocket passer than the future Hall of Famer.
Footbahlin With Ben Roethlisberger Channel Seven YouTube
Steelers Footbahlin With Ben Roethlisberger Episode 26
“It was nothing but a compliment,” an annoyed Roethlisberger responded. “I respect Lamar. Lamar is an absolute freak, and he is a game-changer. All I said was people are more scared of his legs than his arm. I have sat in meetings where we have had a game plan. No one ever said, hey get him out of the pocket.”
Steelers Ben Roethlisberger Receives Support From Broncos Legend And NFL Analyst Mark Schlereth
Roethlisberger is famous for his passive-aggressive responses in Pittsburgh and used the “Bob Griffin” attack that Griffin is said to hate in his own unique style. He is furious that another quarterback was trying to further his mediocre broadcasting career by taking his comments totally out of context. The lone voice who contradicted the seemingly endless Roethlisberger is jealous takes was Mark Schlereth in an epic rant on Twitter that laid waste to the so-called “experts”.
— Mark Schlereth (@markschlereth) April 15, 2023
“You only played him twice a year for his entire career,” T’eo added with a mischievous grin. “I don’t know that you know.”
“It’s not like I bashed him,” Roethlisberger continued. “I guarantee 31 out of 31 meetings and I was telling Spence this, (turning to Shazier) I’ve been in meetings when you are facing like a Brady or a Manning where it’s like hey disrupt the pocket. Get him off his spot. With Lamar, you want to keep him in there. He is more dangerous, not saying he is not dangerous in there, but he is more dangerous out there.”
The analysis of Jackson’s game by Roethlisberger, with all due respect to Griffin who spent time sitting behind the Ravens quarterback at the end of his checkered playing career is spot on. No defensive coordinator in their right mind wants Jackson to play on the perimeter where he is virtually unstoppable. It isn’t disrespectful to say that you wanted to force Tom Brady to throw on the move and that you want Jackson to sit in the pocket. It is defensive strategy 101 to take away what you do best.
“Listen, I got so much respect for Lamar,” Roethlisberger concluded. “I am not trying to make this a big deal. I have respect for what he can do. It was one guy taking it like his QBR was better than mine in the pocket. Sure, that’s fine, whatever. I’m not even talking about that. Didn’t I compare us at one point? Oh no I didn’t.”
The current national sports media is always looking for victims and Griffin did Jackson a huge disservice by turning him into a victim of a phantom attack. The manufactured outrage did nothing to help the perception of the Ravens quarterback and it only embarrassed the profession that all was too quick to pile on Roethlisberger. The idea that somehow it is insulting to point out that Jackson is more effective outside of the pocket improvising by the very quarterback who spent half his career doing just that is not just bad analysis it is malignant malfeasance.
Photo by Rob Carr/Getty Images
Pittsburgh Steelers quarterback Ben Roethlisberger and Baltimore Ravens outside linebacker Terrell Suggs.
Roethlisberger is going to be a first-ballot Hall of Fame quarterback and is no stranger to occasionally making statements that are perceived poorly. This should not have been one of them. Not one of the talking heads who took Griffin’s tweet as gospel even bothered to reach out to the quarterback-turned-podcaster to add context. They took the words of a buffoon who couldn’t comprehend the larger point Roethlisberger was making about a quarterback he admired.
In other words, par for the course by an ill-informed talking head who was just looking to dominate a news cycle with a sophomoric analysis of a partial statement painted in the worst light. Congratulations to Mr. Griffin, the only insight you offered was that you didn’t bother to get the whole story.
What do you think Steeler Nation? Was Roethlisberger right to put Griffin on blast? Please comment below or on my Twitter @thebubbasq.
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