Ben "Maybe I just dont have it anymore"

Not the words you want to hear from our QB but maybe he shouldve just retired in the offseason. Either he turns it around or you start grooming Dobbs now and this turns into a miserable season

Hard to say what's going to happen from here on out but I know my positivity and expectations for this season have been squashed for now. If they come out firing on all cylinders and beat the Chiefs then maybe my optimism for any kind of success this season will return, but as it sits this team looks to be circling the drain even though we're only five games into the season. Losing to teams like Chicago, and Jacksonville is unacceptable with the amount of talent this football team has, and while I don't think Ben should be shouldering all of the blame, I think about 90% of it rests squarely on his shoulders.

If he's even remotely thinking that, then maybe he does need to hang them up. The dude can't even throw a spiral with zip on it anymore.

But even more dangerous than that is when your leader / QB starts to second guess himself, then the rest of the team will.

However my opinion? He's done. He's looking like a mid tier caliber QB, or maybe even worse. Elite / good QB's bounce back after bad games. He's played 5 bad games already imo. Against baltimore he managed the game, but that's easy if your running back gets 140 yards.

After reading that my stomach just dropped.

The fact that he said it, and no one is disagreeing with him, speaks volumes. During the game I said to my son, "It looks to me like Ben's heart isn't in it anymore."

I don't know how much of the problem is age and how much is mental, but there's definitely something off with him. And it's not just the 5 picks today. He hasn't looked good yet this season.

Ben's passing is not the only thing that's off. It's his timing with saying something like this too; right in the thick of the season. Now what does the team do? They have to keep playing him in hopes that he shakes this all off and sort a gets a grip. Nothing else they can do. It's not like they have a starting caliber QB as backup.

Wallace108 wrote:

The fact that he said it, and no one is disagreeing with him, speaks volumes. During the game I said to my son, "It looks to me like Ben's heart isn't in it anymore."

I don't know how much of the problem is age and how much is mental, but there's definitely something off with him. And it's not just the 5 picks today. He hasn't looked good yet this season.

Even go back to last season. Look at this chart: http://www.espn.com/nfl/player/gamelog/_/id/5536/year/2016

When was Ben's last masterpiece? Either Dallas in the loss, or maybe Indy?

I hate to say it, but Ben is done. And if Ben is truly done, there goes this season, and perhaps the next few [finding people like Dak Prescott are the exception, not the norm.]

jak341 wrote:

Wallace108 wrote:

The fact that he said it, and no one is disagreeing with him, speaks volumes. During the game I said to my son, "It looks to me like Ben's heart isn't in it anymore."

I don't know how much of the problem is age and how much is mental, but there's definitely something off with him. And it's not just the 5 picks today. He hasn't looked good yet this season.

Even go back to last season. Look at this chart: http://www.espn.com/nfl/player/gamelog/_/id/5536/year/2016

When was Ben's last masterpiece? Either Dallas in the loss, or maybe Indy?

I hate to say it, but Ben is done. And if Ben is truly done, there goes this season, and perhaps the next few [finding people like Dak Prescott are the exception, not the norm.]

Agreed.

It's a such a shame that he's probably done. I have a feeling that we just missed our window to win another Lombardy. In 2014 and 2015 when Ben was at his top, the defense was never good enough. Now in 2017 the defense has improved a lot and we have top tier offensive weapons (Brown, Bell), a lot of other solid weapons (Bryant, Juju, James) and a great OL. No injuries or suspensions either, so everything is there to have a run except for Ben.

Let's hope he can turn it around somehow. I don't believe Dobbs is the answer for our future and he won't get playing time this season unless Ben would be injured. I'm hoping for Cousins or Garoppolo next season.

Wallace108 wrote:

The fact that he said it, and no one is disagreeing with him, speaks volumes. During the game I said to my son, "It looks to me like Ben's heart isn't in it anymore."

I don't know how much of the problem is age and how much is mental, but there's definitely something off with him. And it's not just the 5 picks today. He hasn't looked good yet this season.

I wanted to see if there was a comment like that here because that is exactly the feeling I have. Maybe reading too much into it, I don't know. It shocked me he made that comment publicly yesterday. I felt bad in the offseason when he dangled the retirement talk. It seems to me tougher in anything in life for the chief to lead and the indians to follow when the chief questions his desire to continue. If the Bears and Jags did this to them I shudder to think what @ KC is going to look like.

I didn't hear the reporter's question, only Ben's answer.

And while there is fan speculation that Ben is off and his heart isn't in it this season, there is a part of me. A desire within me that says Ben's response was a form of sarcasm.

After re-watching the interview, I'm believing his answer was facetious.

Listening to the rest of the answer, he's taking ownership in the lousy play, and recognizes the need for improvement.

This team still has a lot of potential, but they've also got a lot of drama. Until the drama is set aside, then the true potential will never shine forth.

Been saying it since about halfway through last season. Ben is done. His accuracy has been atrocious. He leaves his receivers high and dry way to often open to take huge hits.

stlrtruck wrote:

I didn't hear the reporter's question, only Ben's answer.

And while there is fan speculation that Ben is off and his heart isn't in it this season, there is a part of me.  A desire within me that says Ben's response was a form of sarcasm.

I don't know, there's something about his body language this year that implies that he's someone that wants to be retired. Like he stopped being that fiery competitor he once was. To me, that's what I find most disturbing, it appears like he has a lack of WANT to be there. It's frustrating because it's obvious he still has a monster arm, so he's physically able.

Who knows though, if he still wants to be there, all this talk about him needing to retire might light a fire under his ass, and thats what he might need.

the Browns, Bears, and Jaguars defenses played about the same type of defense deep zone take away the deep pass and make the window tight on 15 yard passes. if Ben doesn't complete those passes almost % wise Ben calls a running play.

I don't think Ben is washed up it is his play calls it's comes down to Arians offense Ben still likes to throw the deeper passes if not a completed then call a running play or a bubble screen he has added the shovel pass. the short middle of the field is wide open which is driving Haley crazy.

if you watched the game and listen to Rich Gannon you will get a quick understanding Ben is calling the plays out on the field.

imo it is not Haley's offense it is the 20 million a year QB that doesn't like to attack what the defense is giving him.

I like Benj but defenses know how to defense him if he doesn't wake up it is going to be a long season damn I like where the defense is going but the offense is wearing them out.

Ben will retire before Haley leaves

don't get me started on the defense which Rich Cannon pointed out play man to man on the WRs and stack the run defense when playing against QBs who are not that good.

Ray Fittipaldo's take on the comment in his chat today:

Quote :

Jim: Isn't it telling that Ben has talked about retirement and then yesterday, says he is not sure if he has it anymore. It appears to me that he lacks the focus or the desire to play anymore.
Ray Fittipaldo: I think Roethlisberger was deflecting that question. He doesn't really think he's lost it.

This is his chance to go out on top and he is pissing it away. If his play continues I predict he will not be a first ballet HOF candidate.

He's earned it so far but people will look at all the talent he has at his disposal this year. At the very least we should go to the AFCCG.

If his funk continues we'll be lucky to go 8-8.

Ben and his teammates need to get their heads in the game. Too much extra curricular bullshit going on. Bell's holdout distraction, Bell and Bryant arguing with people on social media, Ben putting it out that he was considering retirement and then making a comment that he didn't know whether he still has "it" (not a good idea, facetious or not).

The whole team needs to play better. The offense is the biggest disappointment and it is a team failure so far with Ben heading up the list of people to blame. Ben has to play better, be more accurate, and stop throwing interceptions. This is by and far the worst football I've seen him play in his career, and with so much talent surrounding him... All the more frustrating to watch. The offensive line play has been abysmal, Ben has had too much pressure on him and has been taking hits and sacks that the offensive line shouldn't be giving up. Run blocking in particular has been very poor. The running game has been stuggling all season, and they were only effective against a Ravens' defense that was severely depleted due to injury. Jacksonville was a golden opportunity (32nd ranked rushing defense) to come out and make a statement, instead the running game struggled mightily and we made Jacksonville look like Super Bowl contenders. To top it off Bell comes out and claims to the media that the run game wasn't the gameplan... If that's true, what the hell were the coaches thinking?

Then there's the rushing defense. I don't know what the hell is going on with those guys but giving up these huge runs is highly uncharacteristic of this defense. They are generally pretty stout but as of late, they're awful at stopping the run and they're giving up big plays left and right. They've been straight up victimized by Howard, Cohen, and Fournette. It's embarrassing to see a Steelers defense give up big runs the way that they have, that 90yd run by Fournette really pissed me off in particular. Even if you're getting beat at home, it's still your home stadium, and you're playing in front of your fans who paid good money to come and see you play. You don't just give up and let Fournette get the easiest big play of his life. That was pathetic. To think I almost bought the Jacksonville tickets over the Minnesota ones, I would've been devastated had I driven 12+hrs to see a game and that's what I would've been treated to.

All in all the whole team needs to be better. No more distractions in the media, no more poor coaching decisions and abysmal playcalling. No more turnovers, and time to tighten up on defense, particularly against the run. They need to get better or this is going to be a waste of a season, and a waste of a lot of talent.