Ain’t No Such Things as Halfway Crooks: Ben Roethlisberger and the Post Monday Night Football Myth
Ben Roethlisberger has been comfortably a part of the discussion of the top-five quarterback in football since entering the league in 2004. That’s what two Super Bowls will do for you (except you Eli Manning, you’re only a top five Manning by default, amiright Cooper). However, Roethlisberger in recent years still had a Russell Wilson-esk vibe to him when discussed among the top quarterbacks in the league. This was basically due to the fact that Big Ben was blessed with a dominant defense and run-heavy offense for the majority of his career. This gave people an excuse to wonder if he really deserved to be a member of the “elite” quarterback crew.
Well, after 2014, the doubters of Roethlisberger as a passer have all basically disappeared. After tying for the league lead in passing yards and throwing for 32 touchdowns, Roethlisberger put together a passing clinic that no one really knew he was capable of. Sure, in his NFL top-100 player feature, players insisted they knew that Roethlisberger could do this given the opportunity (the same players who elected 11 running backs to this list and six total offensive linemen), but still. This 2014 season was an unbelievable season for Roethlisberger any way you want to look at it.
The cherry on top of Roethlisberger’s 2014 campaign was undoubtedly when he pulled off the unthinkable: six touchdown passes in back to back games. Never before in NFL history had a quarterback managed to accomplish this feat, not even Kordell Stewart (remember Slash!?). However, I’m betting that a good amount of DFS players missed out on this second six touchdown clinic from Roethlisberger. Why? Because he did it on a mere five days of rest.
After massacring the Colts on Monday Night Football, Roethlisberger and the Steelers found themselves matched up against their biggest rival: the Baltimore Ravens. While I prefer to remember games like this from the Steelers and Ravens, Roethlisberger put a twist on the latest chapter of this rivalry by going bonkers and throwing for 340 yards and six touchdowns. Thus, Roethlisberger seemingly put a stake in the belief that quarterbacks may struggle when faced with less than their usual six days of rest.
In a previous lesson we took a look at how players perform on Thursday Night Football. We (I like saying we, not I, because it makes me feel better about the countless hours I’ve spent compiling game logs in my early 20’s, thanks for understanding) found that quarterbacks and wide receivers saw a fairly significant spike in their fantasy production. However, this was attributed to the fact that in these Thursday night games, both the defense and offense were facing the same short week. How will the results hold when only the offense faces 24 hours less to rest and prepare for battle?
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