When the Steelers visit Philadelphia Sunday, they’ll try for a better result than their last trip there.
It will be a better turnout as long as Ben Roethlisberger doesn’t consider retirement after the game.
The Eagles beat the Steelers 15-6 in Week 3 of the 2008 season. Roethlisberger was sacked eight times in that game. Only once in his career has he been sacked more in one game.
“I remember driving home from the airport after that game and thinking to myself like, do I want to keep doing this? Do I really want to keep playing football?” Roethlisberger said Tuesday on his weekly radio show on 93.7 The Fan in Pittsburgh.
Roethlisberger, who was 26 at the time, said he stopped by teammate Brett Keisel’s house and talked about it over beers for a couple of hours.
“I was literally like this is not fun, this is not really worth it. But we talked and got over it,” Roethlisberger said.
Roethlisberger won his second Super Bowl four months later.
It would be stunning if Roethlisberger is sacked eight times Sunday. The Steelers won the championship in 2008 despite their offensive line. Roethlisberger was sacked 46 times that year. The line is better now with Hall of Famer Mike Munchak coaching the unit. Roethlisberger has been sacked just twice this season, and even though he missed four games with injuries last year he was sacked just 20 times in the 12 games he did play.
The protection should be better, but the win over the Eagles (2-0) won’t be so easy. The Steelers (2-0) are 0-8 at Philadelphia since 1965. The Steelers’ last win at Philadelphia came at Franklin Field. Roethlisberger has a chance to be the first Steelers’ quarterback to win at Philadelphia since the immortal Bill Nelsen.
The 2008 Steelers fell to 2-1 after losing to the Eagles. The Steelers can improve to 3-0 with a win Sunday and get a historic leg up on that championship team.
