Ben Roethlisberger had inkling his Steelers career wouldn't end in Baltimore

BALTIMORE — Ben Roethlisberger had a feeling his NFL career wouldn’t end Sunday at M&T Bank Stadium.

And it didn’t.

The night before Roethlisberger led the Steelers to a 16-13 overtime victory against the Baltimore Ravens that put them in the AFC playoffs, he told his father that it didn’t feel like the end of his 18-year NFL career was imminent.

“My dad texted me last night and asked how I was doing,” Roethlisberger said. “I said ‘fine.’ It didn’t feel for whatever reason like this was it.”

It wasn’t, as Roethlisberger threw a 6-yard touchdown pass to Chase Claypool with less than three minutes remaining to give the Steelers a 13-10 lead, and then followed up with a game-winning field-goal drive on his team’s only possession of overtime.

The win that snapped the Steelers’ four-game road losing streak came a week after Roethlisberger’s emotional farewell to Steelers Nation at Heinz Field when he helped engineer a 26-14 victory against the Cleveland Browns that kept the franchise’s postseason hopes alive.

“It took it all out (of me) and made me feel like, ‘Let’s go play,’” Roethlisberger said. “At no point during this game did I think, ‘Man, this is it, it’s almost over.’ It just didn’t feel like that, and I’m glad I didn’t have those feelings.”

Roethlisberger finished with 30 completions in 44 attempts for 244 yards, one touchdown and one interception. He also orchestrated the 53rd game-winning drive of his career and seventh this season. He never had more than five in any of his previous 17 years with the Steelers.

“I told him after the Cleveland game that we’ve got one more,” defensive captain Cameron Heyward said. “Let’s see what we can do. Just give him a shot. Every time we’re in a game like that and it comes down to the last drive and we have ‘7’ as a quarterback, we feel like we give him a shot, he’s going to produce.”

Roethlisberger hasn’t lost to the Ravens at M&T Bank Stadium since 2016, winning his final four starts here. That gave him a 6-5 career record in Baltimore.

“People ask me where is my least favorite place to play, and I always say Baltimore,” Roethlisberger said. “It’s a couple of reasons. One, because of how good their team usually is and the defense. This place is crazy loud, and the fans are ruthless — and that’s a compliment.”

The Ravens showed a video montage in the fourth quarter of some of the biggest hits their defensive stars leveled against Roethlisberger during his career. It was the M&T Bank version of “Renegade,” but it didn’t work out the way the Ravens had hoped.

“You have to pay respect where respect is due,” Ravens defensive tackle Calais Campbell said. “We made it hard on him. We definitely made it hard on him, and he just kept coming. You have to respect the competitor. He’s a Hall of Fame player for that very reason, because when the game is on the line, that’s when his best football comes out.”

Roethlisberger wasn’t ready yet Sunday to look ahead to the No. 2 seed Kansas City Chiefs, the Steelers’ opponent next weekend in the first round of the playoffs. He still was soaking in the win against the Ravens that made them eligible to play deeper into January.

Final game of his career or not, Roethlisberger came prepared for the usual slugfest that develops when the AFC North rivals meet. Of the past 28 matchups since 2008, 22 have been decided by one score, and 16 have ended with the winner prevailing by three points or fewer.

“I told a lot of those guys that I’m not going to miss playing them,” Roethlisberger said. “Football is hard and a very violent game, but playing these guys has always been one where you wake up on Monday morning and you’re hurting. It’s never dirty. It’s just good, old-fashioned football.

“I’m just so thankful for this rivalry and thankful for the games and the players that I’ve gotten to play against in this rivalry. And I’m just proud we were able to get the win today.”