Pittsburgh - 29, Chicago - 27
Q. How much did you enjoy it, tonight was your 50th come back -- or 50th game winning drive.
BEN ROETHLISBERGER: Oh.
Q. How much satisfaction did you take in that?
BEN ROETHLISBERGER: That's pretty cool. I didn't know. I'll take the win any way we can get it. I hate the stress of a fourth quarter comeback, but we'll take it.
Q. Ben, what can you say about your confidence with Pat Freiermuth pulling in some big catches tonight?
BEN ROETHLISBERGER: Pretty confident. He's still a rookie, though. (Laughing.)
Q. The one thing that Tom mentioned was the offense finally won the game. Does that make you feel a little bit better that you guys were a big part here at the end and were able to come back?
BEN ROETHLISBERGER: Yeah, I mean, we were still the reason we put ourselves in the situation not to -- or to have to do that. So look at it how you want it, I guess.
Q. What was the shoulder issue that you were dealing with that popped up on the injury report? And how much do you feel it affected you tonight?
BEN ROETHLISBERGER: You'll have to ask Coach Tomlin about injuries. I'm sorry. He asked us not to speak upon them.
Q. Ben, Mike was in here earlier talking about the nature of the NFL and you have to stay in it no matter what, come back and make the required plays. Do you think your team appreciates that or understands that or does a night like tonight maybe draw the point home?
BEN ROETHLISBERGER: Well, you know, I think if you've done this long enough, you know that very few leads are safe. You know, games are never over no matter how well you're playing or how bad you're playing.
And so, I think tonight was one of those nights. And I hope we can all appreciate that you got to play 60 minutes and sometimes more. And you can't let up.
Q. You have some guys that have not been through that before. In your huddle with 1:46 left, what were you seeing there?
BEN ROETHLISBERGER: They all looked fine to me. I just felt like they gave me too much time. So I felt like we could go down and we got, in my opinion, one of the best kickers in the league.
I wasn't thinking about a touchdown, just thinking about getting us in the field goal range. And everyone contributed -- it felt like everyone contributed on that drive.
Q. Did you guys feel like you had to manufacture a running game a little bit more with a lot more sweeps with the wide receivers, yourself running the ball on third down?
BEN ROETHLISBERGER: You know, it's just -- that's just the plays that were called. Coach called some sweeps tonight for whatever reason, whether they see something, try some things. And I'm not really sure if there was a specific reason he was doing it, but, you know, just a part of the play calls, mixing it up probably.
Q. Ben, that third down play where you kept it and ran? What did you see there? Was it designed that way or is that your call to make that choice?
BEN ROETHLISBERGER: It was an RPO, and I'm not supposed to be one of the Rs. But they were collapsing really hard. And so, just keep it and don't throw it away, and don't stop the clock. I thought I could get the first. I guess I'm a little too old to get an extra yard.
Q. Was the hash a factor at all there? That side of the field --
BEN ROETHLISBERGER: Bos always says he doesn't care, so I wasn't really -- I didn't think about that at the time.
Q. Ben, you have another MAC teammate, Diontae Johnson, who had late catches late in the game. Can you talk about the rapport that you've kind of developed with him the last couple years, especially this season?
BEN ROETHLISBERGER: Yeah, he's a special football player. He makes plays when we need him to the most. I thought everyone stepped up. That last drive, I thought everyone played really well.
And I know it can be frustrating for the receivers sometimes because the stats aren't there for anybody. But, you know, we're winning the game. And when you need a play, guys step up and make plays and they did that tonight.
Q. Cassius Mrash kind of came out of nowhere to get the sack on you late there, and then the flag kept the drive alive. What kind of happened there from your perspective?
BEN ROETHLISBERGER: I don't -- I don't remember, to tell you the truth.
Q. Did you have much of a relationship with him last year?
BEN ROETHLISBERGER: With Cassius?
Q. Yeah.
BEN ROETHLISBERGER: Yeah, he was one of our teammates. I thought he was a great guy, great teammate. So I wish him nothing but the best.
Q. Ben, can you ever remember the AFC ever being this wide open?
BEN ROETHLISBERGER: Honestly, I don't even know records of teams. I don't have time to focus on anybody else but us.
You know, we talk about it every week, we dug ourselves a little hole. So we're just trying to get out of it. So, obviously, that's all I'm focused on is us.
Q. Four straight wins from one and three to five and three. What's the biggest difference in this team right now?
BEN ROETHLISBERGER: We're finding ways to win the game. Playing well enough. You know, not great. But, you know, offensively speaking, we're just doing enough right now.
Q. Ben, that was 150 wins for Coach Tomlin Tom and puts him in second place in Steelers history. You've been here for a lot of those. What was your sense of his appreciation of the history here and what that means to -- I mean, to be a part of something like that?
BEN ROETHLISBERGER: Yeah, congratulations to him. I didn't know that. You know, this team is full of tradition and history.
And so, I'm sure that he's proud of it, and he should be. There's a lot of -- I guess there's not a lot of great coaches, but the coaches that have been here have been pretty historic. And so, a pretty cool thing.
FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports