Before Bruce Arians coached up Andrew Luck in Indianapolis and Carson Palmer in Arizona, he was Ben Roethlisberger's mentor and play-caller in Pittsburgh.
Days after Bill Cowher said he has never seen Roethlisberger play better, Arians points out the Steelers quarterback is finally getting long-overdue credit as one of the NFL's best players.
"About time somebody said he was a damn good quarterback because he's been a great one for a long, long time," Arians said Wednesday, via the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. "Nobody mentions him with top-five guys. He doesn't get the credit ... the defense gets the credit. Ben won both those Super Bowls."
It's no surprise that Arians feels so strongly about a quarterback he tutored for half a decade. The two owned lake houses in Milledgeville, Georgia and are known golfing buddies.
That said, it has been our long-held belief that Roethlisberger is right behind the consensus top four of Aaron Rodgers, Tom Brady, Peyton Manning and Drew Brees in the NFL's quarterback pecking order. Over the last two weeks, nobody has been better.
Roethlisberger is simply realizing the full measure of his immense potential now that he's surrounded by the best collection of talent since he arrived in Pittsburgh over a decade ago.
"The same guy I've always seen," Ryan added. "So it's the same nightmare. He's still a great quarterback. He can make all the throws and hangs in there. Their vertical passing game has been absolutely tremendous.
"I don't know if the NFL has ever seen a two-game stretch like this, 12 touchdowns in two games."
Roethlisberger couldn't ask for a better opponent in his quest for a third consecutive six-touchdown game. Ryan's patchwork secondary has allowed a league-high 112.8 passer rating through nine games.
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