Ben Roethlisberger returned after being out of action for 364 days from an elbow injury. Ben looked shaky in the first half against the Giants, especially trying to find James Conner. The two just couldn't connect at first. Roethlisberger knew he was going to be rusty when he came back and he was right. Then with 1:32 left in the first half, Ben drove down the field and took the lead prior to halftime. This looked like Vintage Ben Roethlisberger.
Coach Tomlin said the 1:32 drive to end the half from Ben was 'significant.' From that moment on he shook his nerves off and took over the game. Tomlin acknowledged that he was nervous about the whole game against the Giants. He could not speak about how Ben felt during the game today.
Ben said it was his job to get the ball out of his hands and into the playmakers.
"The guys were protecting up front. My job is to just get the ball out of my hand as fast as I can and get it to the play makers and that's what we did," Roethlisberger said, referring to the end of the half drive. "We got the ball in the hands of guys who made plays for us. We took it down the field and put the points on the board at the end of the half, like we always want to do."
Roethlisberger did acknowledge he didn't feel like his old self just yet but said he was throwing the football with more power throughout the game. The Steelers have been doing a lot of 2-minute drills in practice as of late JuJu said during his post-game press conference after beating the Giants on Monday Night. He felt it brought back memories and said 'that's the Ben we know.'
"It brought back memories," Smith-Schuster said. "I was telling Diontae Johnson, 'It felt so much different.' We do two-minutes in practice and it's like, I'm winded because it's competition level. It's there but it's not an actual game. Us being out there right before half, having two minutes to put points on the board, we felt like 'Okay, that's Ben. That's the Ben we know.'"
During Ben Roethlisberger's post-game interview he said his elbow was feeling fine after the game. He said he has his normal bumps and bruises, but nothing significant.
"I feel great right now," Roethlisberger said. "Obviously, adrenaline is still pumping and we won the game. I'm going to be sore tomorrow, there is no doubt. I got some bumps and bruises. In terms of elbow and everything else, I feel really good right now."
Ben ended up throwing for 229 yards and 3 TD's against the Giants. He said he feels really confident and looks forward to the future. In his post-game interview Ben did say he is just thankful to be apart of a special group of football players and men.
"I'm excited we won the game, I'll tell you that," Roethlisberger said. "I told the guys before the game, it's not about me, individually. The reason I came back is for these guys, for this team. It's a special group of football players and men. I'm just thankful to be a part of it."