BengalszoneBilly Posted October 1, 2006 Report Share Posted October 1, 2006 In this Post-Gazette Story, Steelers Head coach Bill Cowher pleads with his starting QB to imitate the person Tom Hanks portrayed in the movie "Forrest Gump," and run the ball! After I watched Roethlisbergers poorly aimed tosses flutter down the field during last weeks game, it's hard to blame him! Here's the story in it's entirety:Cowher to Big Ben: Run more, puh-leaseThursday, September 28, 2006By Ed Bouchette, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette Bill Cowher delivered a message to his quarterback yesterday, borrowing a line from Forrest Gump: Run, Ben, Run!Perhaps as a way to help his young quarterback out of a rare funk, or merely to make him more dangerous, Cowher urged Ben Roethlisberger to return to his roots and scoot across the line of scrimmage every now and then to keep defenders guessing.Oh, and one more thing: When he's not eating up more yards on the ground, how about eating a little more at the dinner table."I talked to coach about it; we decided that maybe I need to get out a little more, run a little more," Roethlisberger said. "I've kind of gotten away from running the ball. He said, 'Yeah, take your 6 yards and slide.'"We'll see. I'm not going to go out and try to change anything. I'm just going to continue to play the way that I play and just try to make smarter decisions."Roethlisberger is in the worst statistical slump of his young pro career. The quarterback with the best winning percentage in football is 0-2 this season with five interceptions and no touchdowns, the only ranked quarterback in the league without one. He has the best two passer ratings in Steelers history in his first two NFL seasons -- his 98.1 from 2004 is a rookie record and his 98.6 was third in the NFL last season. He's at 34.3 this season, next to last among the 32 ranked quarterbacks in the league."... It seems like I'm having brain [cramps] out there." -- Ben Roethlisberger "It's a weird feeling, but no excuses," Roethlisberger said of his performances. "I'm not going to blame it on the wind, I'm not going to blame it on anything but just the way I've been playing. We'll try to find a way to correct it so it doesn't happen again."Roethlisberger lost 15 pounds after his June 12 motorcycle accident, down to 240. Cowher would like to see him gain some weight, but Roethlisberger was noncommittal."I feel a lot better. I'm working out and really feel good where I'm at. Coach wants me to put on a little bit more weight, but I feel good with where I'm at right now."Said Cowher, "We've talked about it. I am encouraging him to make sure he eats snacks at night."Roethlisberger ran 56 times for 144 yards and a touchdown in 131/2 games as a rookie. He ran 31 times for 69 yards and three touchdowns in 12 games last season, then added 19 more runs for 37 yards and two touchdowns in four postseason games. He has two runs this season for minus-1 yard.Cowher does not want to turn him into Kordell Stewart, but he'd like to see him take off more often."When it comes to scrambling, it's kind of the fine line," Roethlisberger said. "It's not necessarily something you design, but it's not something you want to do too soon. We went back and looked at the film. There's probably a couple of plays where I got out of the pocket and maybe I tried to stay a passer too long rather than just take the yardage and get down. It's a fine line to walk, but we'll find a way to just get back to playing my style of football."He watched tape of the loss Sunday to Cincinnati at Heinz Field and saw what his coach saw, "That maybe there are some plays where I need to get out and use my legs a little bit more, because I feel I am a little bit lighter and I feel maybe I can run and be a little bit more of a weapon running the ball as well."Cowher yesterday avoided making it sound as if he blamed the past two losses on his quarterback."We sat down and talked, I don't want to go into specifics what he should and shouldn't do," Cowher said about his suggestion to run more. "I'm not going to sit here and break down his whole game. There's a lot more to this than one position."Roethlisberger said he did not know whether the head trauma from his June 12 motorcycle accident has had any lingering affects that might have affected his play."It's hard to say. The doctor said nothing's wrong with my brain, and it seems like I'm having brain [cramps] out there. It's just one of those things, you make mistakes and you learn from it and, hopefully, I will learn quickly from those mistakes."He's also uncertain if his slow start might have occurred because he played a mere four offensive series in three preseason games, skipped the fourth and missed the opener because of a Sept. 3 appendectomy."It's hard to say. The last time you played a [real] game was in the Super Bowl. The preseason is one of those things where it's time to get out and practice, but it's time for a lot of people to get out and play. Coach, we made decisions and we're not going to go back and dwell on should I have played more. That's just something that we'll let go." Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ArmyBengal Posted October 1, 2006 Report Share Posted October 1, 2006 Well, it's a d*mn shame you have to talk to your QB like he's retarded to get the point across !!!WHODEY !!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ChadJohnson-85 Posted October 1, 2006 Report Share Posted October 1, 2006 Well, it's a d*mn shame you have to talk to your QB like he's retarded to get the point across !!!WHODEY !!!Im sure it will be like that in Pittsburgh as long as they have Ben. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DC_Bengals_Fan Posted October 1, 2006 Report Share Posted October 1, 2006 Well, it's a d*mn shame you have to talk to your QB like he's retarded to get the point across !!!WHODEY !!!Ben, football is like a box of chocolates...I'm honestly still trying to figure out how Roethlisberger got even a 25 on the Wonderlic. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jjakq27 Posted October 2, 2006 Report Share Posted October 2, 2006 The enquirer had an article about how Cowher wants him to eat more. He is 15 pounds under his weight from last year. Somehow that translates into mobility? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BengalszoneBilly Posted October 2, 2006 Author Report Share Posted October 2, 2006 The enquirer had an article about how Cowher wants him to eat more. He is 15 pounds under his weight from last year. Somehow that translates into mobility?Sounds more like Cowher is grasping at straws... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Edogger Posted October 3, 2006 Report Share Posted October 3, 2006 Well, it's a d*mn shame you have to talk to your QB like he's retarded to get the point across !!!WHODEY !!!Ben, football is like a box of chocolates...I'm honestly still trying to figure out how Roethlisberger got even a 25 on the Wonderlic.He got a 25 on the wonderlic cause he wasn't in Pittsburgh yet. Moving there automatically reduces his IQ but quite a bit. Plus, that motorcycle accident didn't help...deduct a few more IQ points for that brilliant manuever.I think he suffered some damage from that...or afraid to have a flashback if he gets hit. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cincy9275 Posted October 10, 2006 Report Share Posted October 10, 2006 why isn't cowher urging him to throw the ball to the guys that are wearing the same shirt as he is . Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bengalboomer7 Posted October 10, 2006 Report Share Posted October 10, 2006 why isn't cowher urging him to throw the ball to the guys that are wearing the same shirt as he is .Let him run, he'll get killed by some huge LB or DE eventually. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.