Ben Roethlisberger is the latest big-name NFL quarterback to suffer an injury. But the Pittsburgh Steelers avoided a worst-case scenario on Roethlisberger's left knee Sunday night.
On Monday, Steelers coach Mike Tomlin said the quarterback will "be out for a number of weeks." Tomlin also said he wouldn't have more details to provide until at least Friday.
Roethlisberger left Sunday's 12-6 victory over the Rams in the third quarter after being hit low by Rams safety Mark Barron, who stumbled on the play and crawled to sack Roethlisberger. The Steelers quickly announced that he would not return after Roethlisberger was carted to the locker room in anguish.
This is why the Steelers brought Michael Vick to town, and he won't have much time to prepare for his first start in Pittsburgh. The Steelers host the Ravens on Thursday night.
Vick did not play well in limited work against the Rams, fumbling the ball and nearly throwing an ugly interception. But the Steelers hung on for the win thanks to running back Le'Veon Bell and the Steelers' defense.
Thursday will be Roethlisberger's first missed start since 2012. He's missed only 17 starts total in his 12 NFL seasons.
It's a disappointing development for Roethlisberger coming off one of the best starts to the season of his career. This looked like his chance to potentially put up an MVP campaign. Thanks to an insanely good deep ball, Roethlisberger looked like one of the best three quarterbacks in the early going.
Now the Steelers have to figure out how to stay alive in the playoff race with Vick at quarterback. The schedule over the next four weeks is tricky: vs. Ravens, at Chargers, vs. Cardinals and at Chiefs. Vick had a few good moments as a starter in New York last year, but he also put together two of the worst starts by any quarterback all season. Of course, he didn't have the talent around him then that he does in Pittsburgh.
With Bell and Antonio Brown, Vick has perhaps the best running back and receiver in the league at his disposal. The Steelers' offensive line is also playing great and the defense showed on Sunday it can win games for the team as well. In short: The Bengals won't necessarily run away and hide in the AFC North just because of Roethlisberger's injury.
The Steelers and Roethlisberger still have time to recover and make the 2015 season special.
