Throwback Thursday: Ben Roethlisberger sets two-game TD record with Steelers
Steel City Underground takes fans back in time to feature events, special moments, and historical times and players in the world of the Pittsburgh Steelers and Steelers Nation. Join us in our “Steelers Throwback Thursday” series as we revisit these moments.
The Pittsburgh Steelers can lay claim to many records in the National Football League, whether set by the team itself or individual players. We look at two games during the 2014 NFL season that became part of league history due to a record-breaking performance by quarterback Ben Roethlisberger.
Week 8 vs the Indianapolis Colts
The Steelers entered the October 26th game with a 5-3 record, as did the Colts. Indianapolis won the coin toss and opted to take the opening kickoff. Quarterback Andrew Luck led his team down the field but the Colts weren’t able to get into the end zone, relying on Adam Vinatieri to put the first points on the scoreboard.
On the Steelers opening offensive series, Roethlisberger ran a balanced mix of runs by Le’Veon Bell and throws. Big Ben found Markus Wheaton and threw an 18-yard touchdown pass.
Roethlisberger and the Steelers offense were hot. In subsequent series, Roethlisberger found Martavis Bryant twice, Antonio Brown twice, and Heath Miller for touchdowns for a total of six touchdown passes.
Roethlisberger finished the game having completed 40 of 49 passes for 522 yards to zero interceptions.
The Steelers won the game, 51 to 34, and moved to 6-3 ahead of their next matchup with an AFC North divisional rival.
Week 9 vs the Baltimore Ravens
In the November 2nd game, the Steelers weren’t able to get on the scoreboard until the second quarter. Roethlisberger hit Bell for a five-yard touchdown in the second quarter, and then went on to throw a touchdown pass to Bryant. He threw a deep ball to Wheaton for another touchdown in the waning moments of the same quarter; punter Brad Wing then threw a short pass to Matt Spaeth for the two-point conversion.
In the third quarter, neither team was able to find the end zone due to strong defensive play by both teams. The score was 22 to 21 in favor of Pittsburgh.
In the fourth quarter, Roethlisberger threw a nice ball to Antonio Brown for a 54-yard touchdown. He then outperformed Joe Flacco by throwing an 18-yard strike to Bryant for another six points.
Just after the two-minute warning, Roethlisberger gave the Steelers the opportunity to put the Ravens to bed when he completed a deep pass to Spaeth for the sixth touchdown pass.
Roethlisberger finished the game with 25 of 37 attempted passes completed for 340 yards.
As recorded by NFL official statistics and the Guinness Book of World Records, Roethlisberger surpassed the 11 touchdown passes thrown by Oakland (Raiders) Tom Flores in 1963 and (New England Patriots) Tom Brady in 2007 by becoming the first player in NFL history with six touchdown passes in back-to-back games, joining Y.A. Tittle in 1962 as the only players with two six-touchdown games in one season.
You can watch every touchdown Big Ben threw in the record-setting two games here:
The record set by Roethlisberger in those two games helped propel the Steelers to an 11-5 regular season record. Pittsburgh faced the Ravens again in the Wild Card Round of the playoffs that season, but were defeated.
