Roethlisberger Does It Again

Ben Roethlisberger had plenty of help in pulling off the first last-minute drive of his career.

The rookie quarterback extended his and Pittsburgh’s winning streak to 10 games by engineering a late drive Sunday to set up a 37-yard field goal by Jeff Reed with 18 seconds left that gave the Steelers a 17-16 win over Jacksonville on Sunday night.

The drive, the type pulled off multiple times by stars such as John Elway, Dan Marino and Joe Montana, covered 56 yards in six plays after Josh Scobee made a 36-yard field goal with 1:55 left to gave the Jaguars the lead.

“It’s something special what he’s doing,” guard Alan Faneca said.

“Is a rookie quarterback supposed to win a game like that on the road in a hostile environment in prime time? Probably not. That says a lot about him. He’s special.”

Roethlisberger said that the Steelers’ regular two-minute drill routine is to put 1:47 on the clock and play with no timeouts and needing a field goal.

“I want the ball in my hands,” he said. “I want to have control of the outcome of the game.”

But the young quarterback, who set a record for most wins by a rookie quarterback, wasn’t the only star of the victory.

Reed drilled the kick, of course. And the win by the Steelers (10-1) was a testament to Coach Bill Cowher’s clock management. He used all three of his timeouts before the two-minute warning as Jacksonville was driving for the go-ahead field goal, preserving plenty of time for his offense.

Then Roethlisberger was three for four for 39 yards on the winning drive, and the one incompletion was a spike after he calmly let the clock run down to avoid giving the Jaguars much time for a march of their own.

He finished 14 for 17 for 221 yards and two touchdowns.

Jacksonville (6-6) had one last shot after a 19-yard completion from Byron Leftwich to Jimmy Smith, which gave Scobee a shot at a 60-yarder. It fell just short and wide right.