On a night that was supposed to belong to Ben Roethlisberger, the rest of his Pittsburgh Steelers teammates stepped up and carried Big Ben to a 26-14 win over the Cleveland Browns in his final game at Heinz Field.
The story of this game, aside from the historical meaning was the play of the Steelers defense, in particular linebacker T.J. Watt. Watt cemented his spot as Defensive Player of the Year with a mind-boggling four sacks. As a team, the Steelers sacked Browns quarterback Baker Mayfield nine times and completely shut down the vaunted Browns run game.
On offense, it wasn’t pretty but as its been for much of Roethlisberger’s career, they find a way to get it done. On this night it was on the back of rookie running back Najee Harris and his career-high 188 rushing yards. The Steelers made some changes on the offensive line and it really paid off.
But this night was about Roethlisberger. Taking that final knee and sealing the win then to see him with tears in his eyes, recounting what playing for this team for nearly half his life has meant, and then to walk a lap around the entire stadium to high-five the fans. This is why we love football and this is why there will never be another Ben Roethlisberger.
