"That guy you can't ever stop. He just makes things happen." -- Steelers wideout Mike Wallace.
Ben Roethlisberger was missing reads and his receivers, and it had the Pittsburgh Steelers reeling in the first half.
It was all so very unlike Roethlisberger. The situation only got worse after halftime, when his sack and fumble led to Robert Ayers' long touchdown return.
If Big Ben was rattled, he didn't show it, needing just four plays to march the Steelers 80 yards for the touchdown that put them ahead for good in their 28-10 rout of the Denver Broncos on Monday night.
"I kind of rushed a little bit," admitted Roethlisberger, whose team has now won five straight. "I think offensively we've got a long ways to go. We made a lot of mistakes and we've got to keep searching for the ceiling because we can't play the way we've been playing and continually beat good conference teams."
There definitely was a good/bad element to Roethlisberger Monday night.
The good came with a pair of 3-yard touchdown passes to Hines Ward and another to rookie wideout Mike Wallace.
The bad was losing a fumble when he was hit from behind by Kenny Peterson, the ball flying free and Ayers scooping it up for a 54-yard TD. Roethlisberger also threw an interception with the Steelers poised to put more points on the board when Andre' Goodman stepped in front of a pass that sailed behind Ward.
"I told the guys, 'They're not stopping us. We're stopping ourselves,'" Roethlisberger said. "Chris was beating himself up because he let the guy through. I said, 'Listen, there's nothing we can do about it. Let's move on. Block the next time and we'll score.' We did."
But when the Steelers (6-2) needed him most, Roethlisberger delivered.
And quickly. It took only four plays for the Steelers to march 80 yards and take a 14-10 lead they never relinquished once Roethlisberger hit wide receiver Hines Ward. That was the first of Big Ben's three touchdown passes.
"It wasn't a fluid start for us," Tomlin said. "Ben didn't blink."
There was no argument from the Broncos, who dropped their second straight after opening the season 6-0 under rookie coach Josh McDaniels.
"Great quarterback," Goodman said. "He doesn't panic, no matter what the situation is. His head is always in the game."
Part of the reason for the Steelers' second-half turnaround was trying out a new tactic , the nonstop no-huddle. The Broncos certainly weren't ready for it.
"Caught us off guard a little bit," Goodman said.
The Broncos shouldn't have been surprised; the Steelers talked all week about employing the no-huddle at Denver.
The Broncos prided themselves on halftime adjustments that worked like magic the first six weeks as they outscored opponents 76-10 after the break during the six-game winning streak.
They've been outscored 45-14 in the last two games.
Ben had three touchdowns, threw for 233 yards, and completed 21 of his 29 attempts despite being severely pressured early on by Denver's pass rush.
The Steelers host the Bengals on Sunday.
To see video highlights, click
here.
To see photos, click here.
Also, check out the column of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette's Ron Cook this morning on last night's game.
And don't forget...
Ben will appear on the season finale of ESPN's E:60 this evening at 7:00pm.
For more information on the show, click here.