The Pittsburgh Steelers ended up playing the Ravens on a Wednesday afternoon which was the first time since 1936. It was a sloppy game from beginning to end on both sides, but what did you expect from a Wednesday afternoon game that was canceled almost a week ago. By our estimate, after rewatching the game from Wednesday the Steelers dropped the ball nine times. Seven of those were clear drops with two catches and fumbles that went out of bounds. Randy Fichtner today said the Steelers take catching the ball seriously and every time his receivers get a chance to touch the ball it should be a catch. Randy Fichtner made it very clear today that the expectation is to catch every single ball.
"I can remember Hines Ward years ago, he had a ball hit him in the foot," Fichtner recalled. "He walked by me, I said 'that's a drop.' And he said, 'Yes, it is. It hit me. The expectation is we'll catch every football. I know that's sometimes hard to do. I know defenders do make plays, but we can be a little stronger at the catch point and be a little more determined."
Ben Roethlisberger on the other hand feels they shouldn't have to change anything, but they need to be better. He said there is nothing different that needs to happen and it was just one of those games. Ben feels they will still communicate and continue to throw the guys the ball, but he needs to be more accurate with his throws. Ben really likes how loaded this team is with the number of players he can throw to.
"I think the cool thing about this group is there are five of them," said Roethlisberger. "You talk about those three back then, they were all phenomenal football players and had great careers. We have more than just three. You've got five guys that can be on the field at any time and really kind of fill in for each other. They all can play each other's spot, which I think is one of the most special things about the group."
Ben says you can literally plug any guy into each position, role, and route. The guys won't blink or second guess when they go no-huddle and they do not question him at all. He says this group is special. Roethlisberger also brought up James Washington's spectacular catch. He says he has 1,000 percent confidence in Washington otherwise he would have never thrown him that ball.
"I have 100 percent confidence in him, or as Pouncey would say 1,000 percent confidence," said Roethlisberger. "I wouldn't have thrown it if I didn't believe in him. Maybe I would have put a little more zip on it, make it a little easier on him.
Even though Ben said the Steelers need to be better he feels they do not need to do things differently. He is still going to throw the guys who are open the ball. Communication is still going to be the key in the offense and they need to just do better when handling the football.
"I'm gonna throw guys the ball that are open, the way the reads dictate. It's just one of those games, I need to be more accurate, all around we just need to be better."