Ben Roethlisberger

Here's a little story about Ben Roethlisberger, one that hints at the skills required to make the kind of precision passes the Pittsburgh Steelers quarterback made in the Super Bowl last Sunday. It happened a few hours after the divisional playoff victory over San Diego, when Roethlisberger was unwinding at a Pittsburgh pub with a group of family and friends.

Reporting from Denver -- Champ Bailey, All-Pro cornerback for the Denver Broncos, has faced Pittsburgh enough to know he has to trust his eyes and not his ears when it comes to reports about Ben Roethlisberger's health. So does Bailey buy the argument that Roethlisberger will be compromised by a bum ankle Sunday when the Steelers play at Denver in a first-round playoff game? "No, not at all," he said. "Because I know how tough he is. I was watching the Cleveland game and there's no way he should have went back in there, but he did. They pretty much were already in the playoffs, so to have him go back out there, that shows his toughness right there.

The Pittsburgh Steelers, positioned to deny Mark Sanchez and the New York Jets, are well aware that winning a Super Bowl with a second-year quarterback would not be unprecedented. ? They did it five years ago with Ben Roethlisberger . ? Even if the Jets get to Roethlisberger as readily as they did Tom Brady , will they be able to bring him down? ? Steelers Coach Mike Tomlin says his tackler-shedding quarterback possesses a "no-blink mentality. " ? Aaron Rodgers and the Green Bay Packers have never trailed by more than seven points this season, a distinction that sets them apart from every other NFL team in the last 41 years.

Pittsburgh quarterback Ben Roethlisberger will not start Saturday when the Steelers face the St. Louis Rams. Roethlisberger is dealing with a sprained left ankle and did not practice this week after a 20-3 loss to San Francisco on Monday. He will be replaced by veteran Charlie Batch , who is 4-2 as a spot starter since joining the Steelers in 2003. Roethlisberger said Wednesday he would prefer to play and believed his ankle was in pretty good shape after throwing for 330 yards and three interceptions against the 49ers.

Ben Roethlisberger has a broken right thumb, but that in no way means it's thumbs up for Kansas City. The Pittsburgh quarterback seems to play even better when he's a little banged up. "I'll be out there; I guarantee that," Roethlisberger told reporters this week during a break from preparations for Sunday night's road game against the Chiefs. Roethlisberger didn't take snaps from under center for the first part of the week, instead working out of the shotgun with a splint under the glove on his throwing hand to protect his thumb.

Pittsburgh quarterback Ben Roethlisberger will not start Saturday when the Steelers face the St. Louis Rams. Roethlisberger is dealing with a sprained left ankle and did not practice this week after a 20-3 loss to San Francisco on Monday. He will be replaced by veteran Charlie Batch , who is 4-2 as a spot starter since joining the Steelers in 2003. Roethlisberger said Wednesday he would prefer to play and believed his ankle was in pretty good shape after throwing for 330 yards and three interceptions against the 49ers.

Like a ghostly apparition from their past, Ben Roethlisberger haunts the Baltimore Ravens in their playoff dreams. The Pittsburgh Steelers' seven-year veteran has been equal parts quarterback, magician and tormentor to the Ravens while winning his last six starts against them, often in extraordinary fashion. Going into Saturday's divisional round playoff game in Pittsburgh, the Ravens lug these memories into Heinz Field: There was the phantom touchdown throw to Santonio Holmes ?

It took only one play for the Pittsburgh Steelers to realize Ben Roethlisberger hadn't changed a bit. "He threw me a long bomb right on the money," receiver Mike Wallace said about the first play of Roethlisberger's return to practice last week. "I guess it was kind of like a statement, letting them know, 'I'm here.' " But to hear Roethlisberger tell it, the old Big Ben is long gone. "I'm going back to the person I was raised to be, the person I was before all this," the quarterback said Wednesday.

When Jay Williams slammed his motorcycle into a pole three years ago, suffering career-threatening injuries and voiding his contract with the Chicago Bulls, agent Leigh Steinberg told an interviewer that Williams wouldn't be the last high-profile athlete to put his livelihood in jeopardy while risking life and limb.

The ice has thawed. Not the stuff on the ground in North Texas ? which looks as if it's here to stay for another day or so ? but an end has come to the icy impasse between past and present Pittsburgh Steelers quarterbacks, Terry Bradshaw and Ben Roethlisberger . Bradshaw, now a Fox analyst, had given his unvarnished opinion of Roethlisberger on several occasions, first after the young quarterback's helmet-less motorcycle accident, then...

The Pittsburgh Steelers would like to move from wild-card leader to the top-seeded team in the AFC during the NFL's final weeks. Take away quarterback Ben Roethlisberger and linebacker James Harrison on Monday night at NFC West-leading San Francisco, and that pursuit gets more difficult. Roethlisberger was kept out of full practices last week after spraining his left ankle in a 14-3 victory over the Cleveland Browns on Dec. 8, and Coach Mike Tomlin said the quarterback with two Super Bowl rings is "day-to-day" with the pain.

Ben Roethlisberger has a broken right thumb, but that in no way means it's thumbs up for Kansas City. The Pittsburgh quarterback seems to play even better when he's a little banged up. "I'll be out there; I guarantee that," Roethlisberger told reporters this week during a break from preparations for Sunday night's road game against the Chiefs. Roethlisberger didn't take snaps from under center for the first part of the week, instead working out of the shotgun with a splint under the glove on his throwing hand to protect his thumb.

The No. 1 task of Baltimore's Terrell Suggs isn't simple, but it's pretty straightforward. He exists to stop Ben Roethlisberger. That's what the outspoken Ravens outside linebacker said this week on the NFL Network's "Around the League. " "Ravens-Steelers. My rival. I like to think that I exist because they need someone to stop Big Ben," Suggs said in an interview about Sunday's game at Pittsburgh. Suggs said. "So, yeah, we're like Smith and Neo from 'The Matrix.' Coexist for each other — Joker and Batman.

PITTSBURGH -- Ben Roethlisberger completed 36 of 50 passes for 365 yards and two touchdowns to lead the Pittsburgh Steelers to a 25-17 victory over the New England Patriots on Sunday. Antonio Brown and Mewelde Moore each caught a touchdown pass for the Steelers (6-2), who have won four straight to surge to the top of the AFC. Pittsburgh made its move in the first half, controlling the ball for more than two-thirds of the time to take a 17-10 lead. Roethlisberger used a short passing attack to do the damage, throwing for 231 yards before the break.

The NFL lockout is back. It had to feel that way Sunday, at least, for a handful of last season's playoff teams. Atlanta was shackled by Chicago in an 18-point loss. Pittsburgh was pinned by Baltimore, 35-7. Kansas City was handcuffed by Buffalo, 41-7. "When things started going bad, they just went bad," Chiefs defensive tackle Kelly Gregg said. "Landslide. " At least they're not the Indianapolis Colts. Without Peyton Manning — probably out for the season after neck surgery — the Colts are lost.

As the starting left tackle for the Pittsburgh Steelers, Jonathan Scott can say he has $102 million in his back pocket. A few yards behind his back pocket, that is. That's where Ben Roethlisberger drops back to pass, and Scott — who's on his third franchise in six seasons — is the blind-side protector for that $102-million quarterback. Scott is one of several no-name players around the NFL who are stepping into high-pressure jobs. From a linebacker in Denver, to a defensive tackle in Green Bay, to big blockers up front in Chicago, Philadelphia and Pittsburgh, this is a season when some pivotal players can go from "Who's he?"

The Pittsburgh Steelers are prepared to discipline quarterback Ben Roethlisberger for his off-field behavior but do not plan to do so for at least two weeks. Steelers President Art Rooney II addressed the media Thursday at team headquarters and said the club will coordinate with NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell, who met with Roethlisberger earlier this week regarding an accusation the star quarterback sexually assaulted a 20-year-old college student. A district attorney in Georgia said Roethlisberger will not face criminal charges in connection with the alleged incident.

I'm painting the Masters in brown azaleas and blue jackets here, but somebody has to say it. I feel sorry for Tiger Woods. The odds of many folks agreeing with me are the same as Amen Corner turning atheist, but the feeling is as clear as Tuesday's windblown sky. I feel sorry for Tiger Woods. I was sitting in front of him at his annual Masters news conference, watching those circles under his eyes, listening to the heaviness in his voice. And, in searching for words to describe the achingly sullen encounter, I could only come up with one. Desperation.

The ice has thawed. Not the stuff on the ground in North Texas ? which looks as if it's here to stay for another day or so ? but an end has come to the icy impasse between past and present Pittsburgh Steelers quarterbacks, Terry Bradshaw and Ben Roethlisberger . Bradshaw, now a Fox analyst, had given his unvarnished opinion of Roethlisberger on several occasions, first after the young quarterback's helmet-less motorcycle accident, then...