Bill Cowher spent three years up close and personal with Ben Roethlisberger and the past eight years analyzing the NFL on national television.
Unsurprisingly, Roethlisberger's recent heroics have caught the former Pittsburgh Steelers coach's attention.
"I've never seen Ben play better," Cowher said Wednesday on The Fan Morning Show on 93.7 The Fan in Pittsburgh. "He looks comfortable in this offense."
Roethlisberger's record-breaking play over the past two weeks is a reminder of the foolishness of separating a quarterback's performance from the context of his coaching staff and teammates.
Offensive coordinator Todd Haley has been in a play-calling zone. The young, homegrown offensive line has been gelling since late last season. Antonio Brown has been the NFL's best wide receiver for two months. Martavis Bryant has provided Roethlisberger with the big, physical red-zone threat the quarterback has been openly campaigning for since Plaxico Burress defected to the Big Apple a decade ago.
That deep, athletic wide receiver corps has been enhanced by Le'Veon Bell, one of the NFL's premier all-around running backs.
In other words, all of the ingredients are finally coming together to form one of the NFL's most potent offenses, capable of running away and hiding from the competition as we've witnessed in each of the past three games.
The fireworks show should continue this week against a patchwork Jets secondary that featured undrafted former North Dakota State star Marcus Williams as the No. 1 cornerback in his first career start last week.
The latest Around The NFL Podcast recaps every Sunday game from an action-packed Week 9. Find more Around The NFL content on NFL NOW.
