Q. Ben, was the game plan to attack downfield a little bit more, or was that based on what they were showing you?
BEN ROETHLISBERGER: No, it kind of became the game plan. Even though we had some elements we were dealing with and stuff like that, but just looks that they started giving us kind of dictated that we were going to have to start doing that a little bit. So just kind of in-game adjustments.
Q. Ben, I have to ask how good that ball felt that you threw deep down the left side to Diontae and whether or not that maybe pumped you up and brought a little more confidence?
BEN ROETHLISBERGER: Randy had a good play call, Coach Randy, line gave me a little bit time, just enough time that it was perfect to daub a move. When I let it go, I didn't really know where it was going to end up because the wind was blowing so much. It's just kind those ones that you put some air on it, and Diontae did the rest of the work. He ran underneath it and made a great play. All around, kin of everyone had to contribute to plays like that.
Q. At this point, are you ever going to practice again? It seems like -- obviously, I'm kidding, but it seems like after a week of not practicing, you have one of your best games of the season. What do you attribute that to? Is it built up energy that you had from not being able to practice throughout the week?
BEN ROETHLISBERGER: I attribute it to the guys around me. I attribute it to the offensive line, no sacks today. Gave me time to throw it against a lot of crazy looks and blitzes. I attribute it to the coaching staff for getting me ready to play, and all of us ready to play. Then, obviously, the skill guys, they made plays tonight. It wasn't easy out there. The wind was blowing the football around a little bit, and they were able to concentrate and make plays out there when sometimes plays weren't even there to be made.
JuJu doing what he normally does and fighting for first downs, and James Conner catching the ball, and just everybody. I can't say enough about everybody today. It was way more than me. It was a total team victory today.
Q. I'm curious, what did you do to kind of keep your arm loose during the week?
BEN ROETHLISBERGER: I didn't do anything. I threw about 50 balls on Friday, and that was it. I wanted to kind of let it rest just to kind of -- at that point in the season when not throwing is a good thing. I iced it a lot.
Q. In this day and age and how controlled of a passing game you guys have, do you need to run the ball for, say, 25 for 125 a game to be successful long term and even into December?
BEN ROETHLISBERGER: I think you have to be able to do it when you need to do it. Obviously, we didn't run the ball well today, but we did other things well. We put points on the board. We scored when we needed to score. We converted when we had to do that. So we shouldn't get so caught up in yards per carry or total yards rushing or things like that because really it comes down to winning the football game first, which we did, and everything kind of falls into place from there.
There's going to be games when we need to run it, we need to be balanced, and there's going to be games when we need to throw it. We just have to be ready to do it whenever we're called for whichever situation we need to go.
Q. Why do you think this team is able to handle the COVID situation so well and have such a good performance today?
BEN ROETHLISBERGER: Well, I think guys are doing a great job of being selfless, understanding that it's not always easy to do when you're on a win streak and doing great things. You want to be able to go enjoy it, but you have to understand you've got to put your teammates and coaching staff and this team first. So guys have bought into what it takes.
So I think that we just have to continue to be smart when it comes to that. It's not going to be easy. Everyone is getting in, and you just have to do your best.
Q. Who did you throw your passes to on Friday? And did you feel strong today? Because it looked like you had a lot of zip on your passes.
BEN ROETHLISBERGER: Like I said, my arm rested for the most part. I spent a lot of the week icing. I got to thank Dawn Joy for the gel ice packs for my knees and my elbow. Incrediwear, I wore their tights all week to help my knees out. So really just felt nice and rested coming into today. I tried to talk Coach into seeing if I could take next week off too.
Q. Ben, the numbers the last three games, particularly when you have 11, 14, 18, and 19 with Ebron, are through the roof. Is there something about that group of five that is allowing you to really take advantage and have the success you're having?
BEN ROETHLISBERGER: You know, I just think they're a bunch of skilled football players. They make plays. It's not always pretty. I don't always give them good passes, but we move guys around enough, and they understand concepts and understand routes and understand what I'm asking and what Coach Randy is asking, and they make plays.
But when we're in those sets, a lot of times, a lot falls on the line too because there's not a lot of protection. You don't have tight ends blocking. You don't have a back in there helping. So it's five guys on whoever's rushing. You know, we're putting up good numbers when we're in those personnel groups, but really it starts up front with those guys giving me time to then get the ball to the play makers and let them make their plays.
Q. I told you yesterday that this made me think of that game against the Browns in 2015, and you said, no, no, this is completely different. Do you ever exceed your own expectations, or how do you -- when you look at what today was, did you exceed your own expectations?
BEN ROETHLISBERGER: I just wanted to win the football game. That's always my goal. I don't ever put individual stats out there. I don't ever want to go into it and say I want to do this. I just want to go out and help the team win. I don't want to be the reason that we lose. That was my biggest goal.
I was a little nervous coming into this game. I'm not really sure why. I texted my wife right before and said I've got a little bit of nerves, a little bit of jitters, whether it's lack of preparation or what.
I just love going out and playing with this group of guys. It's just so much fun.
Q. You mentioned this, and you kind of touched on it, but did you feel or sense that your arm had more juice? Because it really looked like it today.
BEN ROETHLISBERGER: When I threw on Friday, my arm felt really, really good, and I knew coming in, it just felt rested. It's not that I throw a lot on Thursday and Friday, but literally to take Thursday completely off and Friday, I probably threw 50 passes, that's about it. Then Saturday was kind of the up tempo walk through, threw a few more passes, nothing crazy.
It was really, really important at this time of year, kind of the midway point, if you will, to let the arm rest. It definitely felt good going into this game, and I'm hoping it's because of the time off and a lot of icing this week.
Q. Ben, this receiving corps is pretty young, but they're definitely not playing like they're young. What does that do for you as a quarterback, knowing that you have -- can have confidence in a handful of guys here?
BEN ROETHLISBERGER: Yeah, I mean, it's a lot of fun. I enjoy the group of guys. I just try and -- we rotate guys in. There was a time today when I was yelling to the sideline to get James in the game. Let's get guys in. I trust every single one of those guys to make a play when we call their number, and I think they trust me to get them the ball.
It's really fun because a lot of times people talk about, oh, is there not enough footballs to go around? I don't sense that at all from any of them. I'm not trying to force anybody the ball. I'm trying to get guys the ball that are going to make plays. Right now that's kind of everybody. So we're just having a lot of fun with it.
FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports