Ben Roethlisberger proving difficult to bring down during Steelers' perfect start

Ben Roethlisberger is debunking the theory that the more times a quarterback drops back to pass the more likely he is to get sacked.

In his 17th season, at age 38, Roethlisberger will take his second-longest streak of pass attempts without a sack into the Pittsburgh Steelers’ game Sunday against the Jacksonville Jaguars.

Since the third quarter of the Steelers’ game at Baltimore, Roethlisberger has attempted 102 passes without being dropped once. That counts the Steelers’ 24-19 win at Dallas and the 36-10 victory against Cincinnati.

The only time Roethlisberger enjoyed a longer span of being kept clean in the pocket was in 2013 when he went 106 attempts over two full games and parts of two others between sacks.

For the offensive linemen assigned to protect Roethlisberger on a weekly basis, it’s an indicator they are doing their job — in spite of the run-blocking issues the Steelers have experienced during their 9-0 start.

“Our job is to keep him upright,” left guard Matt Feiler said. “He’s one of the leaders we have on the team. You want to keep him as clean as possible and keep him on rhythm. We take tremendous pride in doing that.”

If the line can keep Roethlisberger clean against the Jaguars, which is not an unrealistic proposition given Jacksonville’s nine sacks are the fewest in the NFL, it will be the first time in the quarterback’s career that he will have gone three consecutive games without being sacked.

Five times in Roethlisberger’s career he has gone back-to-back games without a sack: when he set his personal record in 2013, plus once each in his four most recent full seasons (2016, ’17, ’18 and ’20).

Much has been made of the Steelers defense’s streak of 66 consecutive games with at least one sack. Roethlisberger has suited up for 50 of those games and has been kept clean 12 times by contrast.

For the season, Roethlisberger has been dropped 10 times, which is tied for the second-fewest total in the NFL. Only Indianapolis Colts quarterback Philip Rivers, with eight sacks, has been brought down fewer times. Rivers, though, has attempted 31 fewer passes than Roethlisberger.

“It’s interesting. I don’t know all of the stats, but he looks more comfortable right now than I’ve ever seen him,” Jaguars coach Doug Marrone said. “His accuracy is extremely high. He’s putting the ball only where his guys can get them. He knows where he wants to go with the football. You’re not really going to fool him.

“He really has great vision, and he’s big and strong in the pocket. He might not run as well as (before), but he can move around, and it’s still tough to get him down.”

Roethlisberger’s quick release — he leads the NFL in getting rid of the ball at a rate of 2.31 seconds — is a main reason for his low sacks total. Still, Roethlisberger is quick to credit the players lined up in front of him even if that supporting cast has changed in recent years.

Although center Maurkice Pouncey, right guard David DeCastro and left tackle Alejandro Villanueva have a combined 27 years of NFL experience, Feiler is in his first year at left guard after playing right tackle in 2019. And right tackle Chuks Okorafor is in his first year as a starter and only earned the job after a season-ending knee injury to Zach Banner in the season opener. Rookie Kevin Dotson has made a couple starts, as well, when DeCastro was injured earlier in the season.

“The guys know each other,” Roethlisberger said. “When it comes to blocking, especially from the O-line group, it’s about cohesion. Obviously, there are one-on-ones, but there are a lot of games that happen up front. Those guys knowing each other and believing and trusting each other is the biggest key to the (low-sack) numbers.”

It also helps Roethlisberger’s cause that his young group of wide receivers has a keen understanding of when opposing defenses are going to apply pressure to the quarterback. They then make the necessary adjustments after the ball is snapped.

“If the defense wants to bring an extra man off the edge, we have to know that,” JuJu Smith-Schuster said. “If we’re running a route, we have to know the ball is coming out. There have been some games playing against teams that they go completely man across the board and blitz everybody, and we have to make plays. We help Ben, too, and help out the O-line.

“At the same time, it’s Ben being the leader of the team and the captain and calling out certain coverages and certain plays. It makes our jobs a lot easier.”