Michael Foust | ChristianHeadlines.com Contributor
One of the NFL’s superstar quarterbacks credited his faith and his teammates after his team pulled off one of the season’s most dramatic victories Sunday.
Pittsburgh quarterback Ben Roethlisberger completed 21 of 31 passes for 236 yards and two touchdowns, and his team’s defense stopped a two-point conversion with 12 seconds left to help the Steelers capture a 20-19 victory over Baltimore before a raucous home crowd at Heinz Field.
The win kept the Steelers in the playoff hunt at 6-5-1. It also helped quiet critics who had blasted Roethlisberger and the team after a 41-10 loss at Cincinnati the previous week.
“God is good,” Roethlisberger told a national CBS audience during a postgame interview. “This is how it’s supposed to be. This is what this game always is and why this game is so much fun – this rivalry is what it is. I’m just so proud of the guys, the way they stepped up. We had guys go down, guys step up.”
He credited running backs Najee Harris and Benny Snell as well as his receivers, saying they “made plays.”
“And then, of course, the defense at the end,” he said.
Roethlisberger, who at age 39 is nearing the end of his career, acknowledged it was an emotional win. He is considered a likely Hall of Famer, having won two Super Bowls and having made the Pro Bowl six times.
“This game’s unbelievable,” he told CBS. “This rivalry. I mean – to do this in front of the fans after last week. And to come out here at home, winning in front of these fans at this place, is just special. We love the fans, and we want to do it for them. Like I said, God is good, and we’re glad we could get a win.”
Earlier this year, Roethlisberger said his faith will play a major role in his retirement decision, Sports Spectrum reported.
“It’s going to start between me and God, a lot of praying,” Roethlisberger said in January. “And then a lot of it is talking with my family – discussions, decisions.”
Photo courtesy: ©GettyImages/Joe Sargent/Stringer
Michael Foust has covered the intersection of faith and news for 20 years. His stories have appeared in Baptist Press, Christianity Today, The Christian Post, the Leaf-Chronicle, the Toronto Star and the Knoxville News-Sentinel.
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