Ben Roethlisberger on playing the Titans in Tennessee: 'It’s always so tough'

(Photo by Joe Sargent/Getty Images)

The Steelers are off to a 5-0 start and Ben Roethlisberger's rookie season in 2004 was brought up today during his Zoom interview with the media. Roethlisberger won 13 straight games in the regular season in 2004 and led the Steelers to a 15-1 record. The Steelers beat the undefeated Patriots (Week 8) and Eagles (Week 9) in back-to-back games that year. The Steelers face a similar challenge this year with playing the 5-0 Titans and 5-1 Ravens in consecutive weeks.

"To be honest, I don’t remember the Eagles game in 2004, but I definitely remember the Patriots game," Roethlisberger said. "I remember Plaxico (Burress) catching a big touchdown, throwing it to the open end. I don’t remember what part of the season it was, but it felt like it was relatively early in the middle. It’s hard for me to reflect back too far on those two back-to-back games. I remember playing Tennessee in Tennessee. It’s always so tough. I’ve never really played well there. It’s going to be different, obviously, to go back on the road since Week 1. I’m not sure how many fans they’re allowing in. I know there’s some there, but that was always a big part of playing there. It always felt like it was cold. It always felt like the fans were really rowdy. It’s going to be different this time. They’re always a good team at home for sure."

Roethlisberger is 1-2 when playing in Tennessee and he last played the Titans in 2014, which was a 27-24 win by the Steelers. In his career, Roethlisberger is 5-3 overall against the Titans. Roethlisberger has a 4-4 touchdown/interception ratio in his three games played in Tennessee and has completed 70 of 111 (63.06%) passes for 899 yards.