Newsflash: The Pittsburgh Steelers would like to improve on offense.
It's a desire Ben Roethlisberger has emphasized all week, pointing the finger at himself, per ESPN: "The quarterback needs to play better."
"I didn't play well enough to win. We lost the game because of me, because I didn't play well enough," Roethlisberger said. "It's not on anyone else. That's how I felt, that's what you've got to do is you've got to own it. And I'll own it.
"If I play better in that game, I feel we win the game. If I play better in the first two weeks, then we're going to score more points and have a productive offense and we don't have to answer questions about why our offense isn't where it is."
It's gracious for Big Ben to shoulder the blame, but the reality is that Pittsburgh has simply failed to mesh into the power they're capable of becoming.
While All-Pro wideout Antonio Brown leads the NFL in receiving yardage, fellow pass-catcher Martavis Bryant has failed to achieve liftoff through three games, which can also be said (at least statistically) of versatile, pass-catching runner Le'Veon Bell.
Bell has shown flashes of last year's dominant campaign, but the offense lacks balance, almost channeling itself through Brown instead of making the most of its many skill-position luminaries. That's something Roethlisberger plans to fix against the Ravens on Sunday.
"Sometimes there are guys that might be open where I quickly go to AB," Roethlisberger said. "I need to reel myself in and just take what the defense gives us, give us the best play possible, not just the best guy possible. ... It's not about a No. 3 or establishing guys. We're going to rotate guys in. We have enough weapons that we can do that. I just need to be better at getting guys involved."
