Ben’s Big Night

On Sunday, the Steelers’ franchise quarterback delivered a performance that will remain part of franchise lore.

Ben Roethlisberger threw for a team-record 522 yards and six touchdowns as the Steelers rolled to a 51-34 victory over visiting Indianapolis at Heinz Field. The 522 yards are tied for the fourth-most in NFL history.

Roethlisberger threw just nine incompletions, connecting on 40-of-49 passes. His 81.6 percent completion rate is the seventh-best in club history among passers with at least 20 attempts. Of the six higher completion rates, none were posted by a quarterback throwing more than 26 passes.

Roethlisberger was not sacked once, a testament to the protection he received from his offensive line. And the Steelers’ pass-catching corps came up big, too. Go-to receiver Antonio Brown hauled in 10 passes for 133 yards and two scores, but emerging rookie Martavis Bryant also added 83 yards receiving and two TDs. AndHeath Miller, one of Roethlisberger’s primary targets for a decade now, racked up seven catches for 112 yards, including an 11-yard score that gave Pittsburgh its final points with 5:14 left. That pulled Roethlisberger within 32 yards of Norm Van Brocklin’s single-game passing record of 554, which he set in 1951.

However, Roethlisberger would not attempt another pass, with Pittsburgh (5-3) preferring to run the ball to run out the clock with a three-score lead with three minutes left.

Colts quarterback Andrew Luck was game in defeat, completing 26-of-45 passes for 400 yards with three touchdowns. However, he was picked twice, including once for a touchdown, and he tripped and fell near his own goal line in the fourth quarter, leading to an intentional grounding call resulting in a safety that gave the Steelers a 44-34 lead with 12:34 left.

From there, the Steelers would put together a 12-play, 67-yard march to ice the game. Along the way, Roethlisberger broke his own franchise single-game passing record of 503 yards set five years ago vs. Green Bay. Ultimately, he got to within five yards of tying Matt Schaub and Warren Moon for the second-most passing yards in a single game (527). Roethlisberger’s 522 yards ties him with Boomer Esiason, who accomplished the feat in 1996 with the Cardinals.