Pittsburgh Steelers fans were witnesses to an eerie site as they once again saw their franchise quarterback Ben Roethlisberger being carted off the field with an apparent leg injury. This one would later be diagnosed as a mid-foot sprain following the Steelers 38-35 win over the Oakland Raiders on Sunday, according to Adam Schefter of ESPN.
Schefter acknowledged that the Steelers initially thought Roethlisberger had suffered a Lisfranc injury, which would have put the remainder of Roethlisberger’s 2015 season in serious jeopardy.
Losing Roethlisberger for an extended period of time would certainly add to the Steleer’s recent troubles. Le’Veon Bell was already lost for the season last week, but unlike Roethlisberger, Bell has a competent replacement in former Panthers running back DeAngelo Williams. Williams might not be as explosive as Bell, particularly in the passing game, but he did rack up 170 yards rushing on 27 carries with two touchdowns while catching two passes for 65 yards.
The Steelers struggled during Roethlisberger’s time on the shelf with an MCL sprain earlier this year. Neither Michael Vick, nor Landry Jones were capable of doing the things that Roethlisberger can do for the Steelers.
Prior to Roethlisberger’s latest injury, the Steelers offense finally looked like they were getting back into rhythm. With Roethlisberger throwing for 334 yards and two touchdowns in his second game back, things seemed to be in sync. Now with Roethlisberger on the bench indefinitely, the Steelers playoffs hopes are in serious doubts.
Roethlisberger’s injury occurred in a career game for wide receiver Antonío Brown. The wide receiver set a Steelers franchise record with 17 catches for 284 yards.
In four starts with Michael Vick and Landry Jones, they’ve gone 2-2 in place of Roethlisberger, and Brown who is among the best receivers in the NFL, had just 17 receptions for 235 yards.
Before Roethlisberger’s injury, he had passed Johnny Unitas and Joe Montana on the career passing yards list and now sits 14th All-Time with 40,565 yards.
Vikings coach Mike Zimmer calls out Rams DC Gregg Williams after late hit on Teddy Bridgewater
Minnesota Vikings head coach Mike Zimmmer has no doubt that the hit that injured his quarterback Teddy Bridgewater, was late and infuriated the Vikings coach.
“If I were out on the street, we would have a fight,” Zimmer said before alluding to St. Louis Rams defensive coordinator Gregg Williams’ reputation of encouraging his players to go after opposing quarterbacks.
“I don’t know that there’s a history there with their defensive coordinator,” Zimmer said. “I’ll leave it at that.”
Bridgewater was diagnosed with a concussion, and his status going forward is uncertain at this time.
