Starkey: Can Ben regain late-game magic?

By Joe Starkey

Having just completed a slice of pizza, Ben Roethlisberger was digging into a chocolate chip cookie before practice Thursday when he was presented with a sticky topic: those killer interceptions against the Cowboys and Bengals last season.

The larger-scale issue is Ben's late-game magic.

Where has it gone?

Going back to the final drive of Super Bowl XLV against the Packers, something's been missing. Last-second shots that used to tickle twine are smacking iron.

Seeing as these Steelers aren't good enough to bury many teams, this would be a wonderful year for Big Ben to regain his big-moment touch. Nobody makes the winning shot all the time, but if this season is anything like last — when the Steelers played nine games decided by four or fewer points — Roethlisberger will get his chances.

“I'd like to think that I'm still a fourth-quarter, last-drive kind of guy,” he said.

I'd like to think so, too. In fact, I do think so. But recent evidence is scarce, save for strong finishes against the Giants and Eagles last season. It always seems to be the other guy — even Tim Tebow — who steals the final act.

Roethlisberger never was going to put up pinball numbers like the NFL's glamour quarterbacks, so he built his blood-stained resume on the strength of gutsy wins. Often, they were dramatic comebacks in places like Baltimore, San Diego, Cleveland, Dallas, Jacksonville and, of course, Tampa, Fla., in Super Bowl XLIII.

Over the past two seasons, however, he has executed just four late game-winning drives. That's the fewest in any two-year span of Roethlisberger's career.

Read more: http://triblive.com/sports/joestarkey/4641129-74/steelers-roethlisberger-game#ixzz2eGuO0vsQ
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The question is whether Ben can regain his late game magic. The question is if the Steelers will ever have a competent o-line that will allow him to regain his late game magic.