Just My Opinion

From the notebook of a sportswriter who’ll remark on the performance of Ben Roethlisberger with the grace befitting a player who’s given so much to Pittsburgh and its fans:

• So, when did the downfall begin? Was it the Ravens who first began smothering Steelers receivers off the line? That’s when the short passing game of Randy Fichtner began to fall apart.• I wonder what Fichtner’s thinking as he hears the calls for a quicker, shorter passing game to• Was it the Maurkice Pouncey snap into the confluence that no doubt hastened his retirement, which no doubt hastened the complete rebuild of the O-line? • Or was it the abrupt departure of David DeCastro after his ankle refused to heal?• I thought about the all-too-brief career of DeCastro after Trai Turner was driven back into Roethlisberger’s lap Sunday by a guy named Kingsley Keke, who swatted at Ben’s arm and forced a fumble. Turner was supposed to be the veteran around whom the Steelers would rebuild this line. He’s looked like every other young guy who’s been turnstiled throughout the first quarter of this new era.• I remember left guard Ramon Foster’s first camp in 2009. He was the start of that new era. Pouncey and Marcus Gilbert and DeCastro – chosen first, second and first in the next three drafts – continued that rebuild.• That would make the current left guard, Kevin Dotson, the start of a mirror rebuild, if they can use that kind of draft capital there instead of at quarterback.• Of course, the Steelers didn’t take a Pouncey in the first round of this draft, and that’s a general criticism of their decision to draft Najee Harris, who looks for all the world to be a keystone piece in the offensive rebuild.• After the Steelers drafted Harris, there wasn’t another lineman drafted for 13 picks, and Landon Dickerson was a medical risk.• If you say the Steelers should’ve drafted center Creed Humphrey in the second round instead of Pat Freiermuth, I’ll listen. Then again, Humphrey wouldn’t have been as wide open down the seam as Freiermuth on fourth-and-4 in Green Bay.• I do believe the Steelers got a steal in LT Dan Moore, and a potential center in Kendrick Green in the third round. It’s just that Humphrey was ready to play right away; Green hasn’t been. So, if you’re going to ignore the wideopen rookie tight end anyway, perhaps not drafting Humphrey was the mistake.• Not as big of a mistake as passing on Lamar Jackson in the first round three years ago.• Was Roethlisberger’s attitude the reason the Steelers have ignored QBs in the first round? I doubt that, but it’s becoming the pop culture myth these days. If true, you get what you deserve, and this offensive mess would be that.• I’ll say this about Roethlisberger’s attitude: I probably would’ve quit in frustration. The fact he’s determined to show he still has “it” is what the Steelers need in the mental makeup of the college players they’re scouting now.• It’s not Ben’s job to define his performance, and it’s certainly not his job to quit on it. I like that’s he’s single-minded in his approach to getting better. That’s him. That’s what you want in your next QB, too.• To that end, I took some time to finally watch college football. I had heard good things about the Ole Miss QB, and, hey, maybe we’ve come full circle back to 2003 and an Ole Miss QB named Eli Manning is heading up a quality group of QBs.• But after watching Ole Miss foul up its own series of fourth-down miscalls, I could only wonder about that good-looking quarterback for Alabama, the team Matt Corral was facing.• Yep, I felt like Mike Tomlin making eyes at Aaron Rodgers.• That flirtation, like most of them, was fun for a couple of minutes. But take a look at Rodgers’ salary numbers and it appears to be an impossible flirtation.• Like mine with the Alabama sophomore.• Do we need to go into the coaching decisions in Green Bay?• I suppose I should blast Tomlin’s decision to NOT onsides-kick while down 10 with 4:04 left. As someone pointed out on Twitter, this decision was made by a coach who famously onsides-kicked with a lead against this same team and QB 12 years ago. It helped the Steelers win a classic at Heinz Field.• It was an iconic call by Tomlin, but this one failed miserably. The Steelers did get the ball back, but with only 1:51 remaining, and Roethlisberger was picked off.• Perhaps the only thing iconic about this recent Steelers-Packers game is the image of JuJu Smith-Schuster stretching the ball forward as he’s being tackled short of the sticks on fourth down. He was a good three yards shy of the stick, or a lot further away than he imagined.• Yep. A lot further away than we all imagined.