What a difference two weeks make.
That is especially true if you are Pittsburgh Steelers quarterback Ben Roethlisberger, who has lit the NFL world on fire the past two weeks. In the process Roethlisberger has gone from a guy that many felt wasn’t having his best season to potentially being the MVP of the entire league through nine weeks.
While names like Peyton Manning, DeMarco Murray, J.J. Watt and Tom Brady should get their consideration for NFL MVP, so should Roethlisberger.
In the past two weeks, Roethlisberger’s performance has been historic, completing an insane 65-of-86 pass attempts (76 percent) for 862 yards, 12 touchdowns and more importantly no interceptions.
A huge two weeks for Big Ben and suddenly Roethlisberger is having the best statistical season of his career.
The numbers jump off the page.
Roethlisberger has completed 231-of-338 pass attempts, for a career-high completion percentage of 68.3 percent. He has thrown for 2,270 yards and 22 touchdowns to just three interceptions. He’s averaging 302.2 yards per game and has a quarterback rating of 110.6.
That means Roethlisberger ranks second in the NFL in yardage, has the second-best completion percentage, is second in both touchdowns and fewest interceptions and has the third best passer rating in the league.
In addition there isn’t another quarterback in the league which ranks as high across the board.
More importantly Roethlisberger has the Steelers, who many people wrote off for dead just a few weeks ago, sitting at 6-3 and right near the top of the AFC North.
While his numbers may be inflated, keep in mind that Big Ben has completed over 70 percent of his passes three different times this season and has gone without a touchdown pass or failed to throw for 200 yards in a game only once each.
Then there is the fact that Roethlisberger hasn’t had a multi-interception game all season.
Add all of that up, along with the fact that he looks to be on the same page with what was a brand new receiving core coming into the season, and you have to believe that the numbers will continue to be there the rest of the way.
He may not throw for 500 yards a week or have any more six touchdown games left in his pocket, but his numbers should be MVP worthy the rest of the season.
If you look at past signal callers in recent memory to capture the league’s top honor, most notably Manning, Brady or Aaron Rodgers, Roethlisberger’s numbers right now are on par with what all three have done and if he is able to keep it up will have some gaudy numbers by season’s end.
But while you could make the case that Roethlisberger is possibly the NFL’s MVP right now, it could be a harder sell seven weeks from now.
For one, wide receiver Antonio Brown could potentially steal some votes away from his quarterback. Another issue is that the Steelers have to keep winning, something that their weak schedule should provide them ample opportunity to do. If they don’t win the division though I would have a hard time seeing Roethlisberger garner up enough momentum to warrant an MVP award.
But there are still seven weeks left in the NFL season and a lot can happen between now and then.
One thing is for sure though and it is if Roethlisberger can continue his torrid pace, he will be right in the thick of the MVP talk come season’s end.
Photo Credit: USA Today Sports
