Roethlisberger says Steelers will get better

PITTSBURGH -- Ben Roethlisberger knew he wouldn't raise
Super Bowl trophies every season and that winning 27 of his first
31 starts set a pace that would be impossible for any NFL
quarterback to match.

What he didn't expect was a mess of a season like this.

After his first two years with the Pittsburgh Steelers went like
those of no other young quarterback in NFL history, with a Super
Bowl victory and two AFC Championship Game appearances,
Roethlisberger's third season couldn't have gone much worse. And he
knows it.

Starting with his near-fatal motorcycle accident in June and
continuing with an appendicitis attack the first week of the season
and a subsequent concussion, it seemed everything went wrong.

All that medical misfortune doesn't totally explain away a
significant drop off in his play that helped doom the Steelers (7-8)
to missing the playoffs a season after they won their first Super
Bowl in 26 years.

"It was tough, frustrating," Roethlisberger said. "At least
you know it will be awfully hard for next year to be any worse.
We're going to get better."

How could it not get better?

Numbers don't always tell the story of a season, but they
illustrate the significant falloff in Roethlisberger's play.

Roethlisberger won all 13 of his regular-season starts in 2004 --
no other rookie had won more than six in a row -- before becoming
the youngest quarterback, at age 23, to win a Super Bowl last
season. This season, he never found a groove until the Steelers
were 2-6 and were all but out of postseason contention; his eight
losses are double the total of his first two seasons combined.

While he is eighth in the NFL with 3,233 yards passing, much of
his production has come in losses in which he threw more than he
wanted. His 22 interceptions are six more than any other AFC
quarterback who has played most of the season and are the most by
a Steelers quarterback since Terry Bradshaw also had 22 in 1980.
Eighteen of the 22 came in losses.

After throwing only nine interceptions last season, he had seven
before he threw his first touchdown pass. He also had five games in
which his completion percentage was barely above, or slightly
below, .500.

There isn't a single reason to explain Roethlisberger's slump.
The injuries caused him to miss only one game -- the Sept. 7 opener
against Miami. And there weren't major personnel changes, other
than the absence of former starting wide receiver Antwaan Randle El, who signed with the Redskins.

Randle El was a game-breaking threat as a multidimensional
player but had only one regular-season touchdown catch last year.

Still, Roethlisberger and his receivers, including veterans
Hines Ward and Cedrick Wilson, often seemed out of sync. It didn't
help that two of the top four receivers, rookie Santonio Holmes and
second-year receiver Nate Washington, had never caught a
regular-season pass until this season.

"I told some of the receivers, and some of the other guys, that
we need to get better," Roethlisberger said. "We know that. We
feel we've made big steps with the young guys that we have, and
we'll get better this offseason."

Holmes has had an average rookie season, with 45 catches and one
touchdown. He did play well in a 31-7 loss Sunday to Baltimore,
making five catches for 90 yards.

It's obvious the Steelers -- and their quarterback -- need some
help.

"We need some players, and I think we'll be able to get some,"
team chairman Dan Rooney said.

Without all the distractions of their most recent offseason --
which began five weeks later than this one will -- Roethlisberger is
convinced the Steelers will return much improved next season.

"You want to get out there and make the playoffs and make a run
at it," Roethlisberger said. "We felt that we were playing our
best football the last couple of weeks. Unfortunately, it didn't
work out ... but we're going to come back better."

Ward is certain the quarterback will do that.

"Ben's always willing to learn and improve," Ward said. "The
fourth year is when a lot of guys show the most improvement, when
they really start to come on. We've got a lot of young receivers
and Ben's now going to work an offseason with them. We're going to
come out a lot more consistent."