It's no secret that the Steelers lost Super Bowl XLV because of turnovers. The Packers were able to capitalize on three Pittsburgh turnovers, all of which led to touchdowns for the Super Bowl champs.
The main culprit? Look no further than Ben Roethlisberger. Appearing in his third Super Bowl on Sunday, Roethlisberger was looking for his third Super Bowl win to join the likes of Tom Brady, Joe Montana, Terry Bradshaw and Troy Aikman as the only quarterbacks to win three Super Bowls. Roethlisberger would not join that elite company, and his own play is probably the biggest reason why.
Roethlisberger was not efficient in Super Bowl XLV, completing 25 of 40 passes for 263 yards and two touchdowns. Unfortunately for Steelers fans, Roethlisberger (I refuse to call him just Ben, by the way) threw two interceptions, one of which was a pick-six by Nick Collins and the other one was intercepted by Jarrett Bush, setting up Green Bay with excellent field position.
Roethlisberger has a history of performing poorly in Super Bowls, so this shouldn't come as a surprise. The Steelers won Super Bowl XL largely in spite of Roethlisberger. In Pittsburgh's win over the Seahawks, Roethlisberger was anemic, completing nine of 21 passes for 123 yards while throwing two interceptions - good for a 22.6 rating. Roethlisberger did improve in Super Bowl XLIII, completing 21 of 30 passes for 256 yards, a touchdown and an interception - and did make a great throw to Santonio Holmes for the game winning touchdown, but the catch was better than the throw, and once again, the Steelers won because of the efforts from those around Roethlisberger.
In three Super Bowls, Roethlisberger has thrown three touchdowns and five interceptions. If the Steelers won, people would compare him to Brady, having three rings and all, but know this: in four Super Bowls, Brady has completed 100 of 155 passes for 1,001 yards and seven touchdowns against just one interception.
Roethlisberger is not a big-game quarterback, his defense and running games have bailed him out in the playoffs time and time again - which is a testament to how good the Steelers running game and defense has been in a league that is now dominated by passing.
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