Ben Roethlisberger officially retired Thursday, and in doing so brought an unofficial end to perhaps the most underrated NFL rivalry of the 21st century.
The 39-year-old, who was the 11th overall pick in the 2004 NFL Draft, hung up his cleats as a six-time Pro Bowler and two-time Super Bowl champion. Regardless of how you feel about Roethlisberger as a person, you can’t deny he was one of the best quarterbacks of his generation and deserves a spot in the Pro Football Hall of Fame.
The Tom Brady-Peyton Manning rivalry, which involved the Patriots, Denver Broncos and Indianapolis Colts, gets all of the love — and deservedly so. It was the NFL’s answer to Magic Johnson vs. Larry Bird. However, the Brady-Roethlisberger rivalry, which pitted New England and the Pittsburgh Steelers against each other for nearly two decades, deserves its own recognition.
Manning retired with a 9-15 record (including postseason) against the Patriots but went 6-11 when it really mattered: against Brady. In his regular-season career against New England, Manning completed 63% of his passes with 43 touchdowns and 26 interceptions.
As for Roethlisberger, he went 4-9 all-time against the Patriots, including 3-9 against Brady, who missed the 2008 matchup due to an ACL tear. In regular-season games against New England, Roethlisberger completed 62% of his passes with 21 TDs and 10 picks.
Obviously, there’s a disparity in the numbers based on Brady facing Manning more often than Roethlisberger, but the stats actually are somewhat comparable. However, the Brady-Manning rivalry really separated itself in the postseason. After falling to Brady and the Patriots in their first two playoff matchups, Manning won the next three games, all of which were AFC title games. Roethlisberger went 0-2 against Brady in the playoffs, with both losses coming in conference championship games. So, Brady vs. Roethlisberger rightfully ranks behind Brady-Manning in the pantheon of individual NFL rivalries, with Brady having the clear edge in both.
Still, like the Colts in the mid-2000s and the Broncos in the early 2010s, the Steelers throughout the years pushed the Patriots for AFC supremacy. In fact, Roethlisberger, who finished his career with as many Lombardi Trophies as Manning, at the time would’ve tied Brady with three Super Bowl titles had he beaten Aaron Rodgers and the Green Bay Packers in 2011. Of course, Brady, who himself could retire this offseason, now has seven Super Bowl rings.
With all that said, we figured we’d use Roethlisberger’s retirement as an opportunity to remember five of the best Patriots-Steelers games in which Brady and Roethlisberger both played.
Here they are, in chronological order:
Week 7, 2004: Steelers beat Patriots (34-20)
In the fifth start of his career, Roethlisberger, a rookie, beat the defending champions and snapped the Patriots’ 21-game win streak. Pittsburgh surged to a 21-3 first-quarter lead, eventually rolling to a victory that wasn’t nearly as close as the final score indicates. Brady racked up 271 yards with two touchdowns and two picks, while Roethlisberger went 18-for-24 with 196 yards and two TDs.
David Givens had a big game for the Patriots, catching eight passes for 101 yards and two scores. Duce Staley put up 125 rushing yards against New England, which also lost a pair of fumbles.
(Click here to watch the highlights.)
2004 AFC Championship Game: Patriots beat Steelers (41-27)
New England returned to Heinz Field nearly three months later and exacted revenge, overwhelming Pittsburgh en route to a third Super Bowl appearance in four seasons. Of course, the Patriots beat the Philadelphia Eagles two weeks later to cement their status as an NFL dynasty.
New England largely bottled up the Steelers’ best players. Hines Ward racked up 109 receiving yards and a touchdown, but Roethlisberger threw three picks and Jerome Bettis ran for only 64 yards. Brady threw for 207 yards and a pair of TDs with receiver Deion Branch adding 116 yards and a score.
A couple of months ago, Brady called this game his favorite non-Super Bowl victory with the Patriots.
(Click here to watch the highlights.)
Week 3, 2005: Patriots beat Steelers (23-20)
Nearly a year after Pittsburgh snapped the Patriots’ famous win streak, New England returned the favor by entering Heinz Field and ending the Steelers’ run of 16 consecutive regular-season victories. The Patriots trailed 13-10 at the start of the fourth but got a Corey Dillon touchdown run and two Adam Vinatieri field goals in the final quarter to earn the win.
Brady put up 372 passing yards with zero touchdowns and one interception with Givens going off for nine catches and 130 yards. Roethlisberger threw for 216 yards and two scores, both of which went to Hines Ward, who racked up 110 receiving yards.
(Click here to watch the highlights.)
2016 AFC Championship Game: Patriots beat Steelers (36-17)
This wasn’t necessarily a great game, but we couldn’t leave a conference championship matchup off of the list.
The Patriots led 33-9 after three quarters as the Steelers were completely outmatched. New England got a signature performance from Brady, who completed 32 of 42 passes for 384 yards and three touchdowns despite not having Rob Gronkowski (injured) to throw to. Chris Hogan racked up 180 receiving yards and two touchdowns with Julian Edelman adding 118 yards and a score. In defeat, Roethlisberger threw for 314 yards and a touchdown to go along with one interception.
(Click here to watch the highlights.)
Week 15, 2017: Patriots beat Steelers (27-24)
This was an absolute thriller and is perhaps best known for Rob Gronkowski’s late-game domination of safety Sean Davis, who actually finished the 2021 season with the Patriots.
New England trailed 24-16 in the fourth quarter but stormed back with 11 unanswered points to take a 27-24 lead with 56 seconds remaining. On the first play of the Steelers’ final drive, Roethlisberger found JuJu Smith-Schuster for a 69-yard catch-and-run, giving Pittsburgh the ball on New England’s 10-yard line. The Steelers appeared to take the lead when Roethlisberger hit tight end Jesse James for a touchdown, but the play was controversially overturned. Duron Harmon eventually intercepted Roethlisberger to put the game away.
(Click here to watch the highlights.)
Honorable mentions
Week 9, 2013: Patriots beat Steelers (55-31)
A total blowout with a goofy box score. Brady and Roethlisberger both threw for 400 or more yards and four touchdowns, with the latter submitting a pair of interceptions. For the Steelers, Emmanuel Sanders, Jerricho Cotchery and Antonio Brown compiled 98, 96 and 71 receiving yards, respectively, while combing for four touchdowns.
The Patriots got 115 rushing yards and two touchdowns from Stevan Ridley, who also lost a fumble. Gronkowski, Danny Amendola and Aaron Dobson (!) all went over 100 yards and scored touchdowns.
(Click here to watch highlights.)
Week 15, 2018: Steelers beat Patriots (17-10)
Roethlisberger’s final win over Brady saw the veteran quarterback throw for 235 yards, two picks and two touchdowns. Brady threw one of the ugliest interceptions of his career, renewing concerns over whether he finally was nearing Max Kellerman’s “cliff.”
The Patriots beat the Los Angeles Rams in Super Bowl LIII two months later.
