Well, it was a good day. Steelers win big and so do the Hershey Bears, 5-0. Time for a beer!
5-0 ..... congrats.
It appears rookie Ben Roethlisberger will retire from the regular season as the quarterback with the best record for a season in NFL history.
Roethlisberger has bruised ribs, and it is extremely doubtful he will play for the Steelers Sunday at Buffalo, sources told the Post-Gazette. He will, however, be ready for their first playoff game Jan. 15-16 in Heinz Field.
The Steelers had no official comment yesterday on Roethlisberger's injury, other than to confirm it was to his ribs, the result of a late hit by Baltimore linebacker Terrell Suggs in their 20-7 victory Sunday against the Ravens. An MRI Sunday night showed no serious damage to Roethlisberger's ribs.
No quarterback in the history of the game can match Roethlisberger's 13-0 record as a starter in the regular season -- not just as a rookie but in any season. Jim McMahon was 11-0 as a starter for the Super Bowl champion Chicago Bears when they went 15-1 in 1985. Bart Starr started every game for the NFL champion Green Bay Packers when they went 13-1 in 1962.
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Mike Mularkey, who coached the tight ends and then the offense for Cowher the past eight years before becoming the Bills' head coach this season, said he doubts his old boss will take the game in Buffalo lightly.
"Hey, I know the coach there," Mularkey said after the Bills won their sixth consecutive game Sunday in San Francisco.
"I know them well. They will be there to play. I don't care who they play, they will play."
With Mularkey and Bills President Tom Donahoe, fired by the Steelers in 2000 as their director of football operations, there are subplots to this game as well.
"There's a lot there," Donahoe told the Buffalo News, "but the game is about our players, and it's a game we need and we're going against arguably the best team in the NFL right now. Pittsburgh's just an added angle to it. It's an important game for our players."