Instead of sitting at a podium in front of hundreds of reporters at Super Bowl LI in Houston, Ben Roethlisberger was on John Calipari’s weekly podcast Thursday reflecting on the AFC championship game that the Steelers lost to the Patriots.
The Patriots have beaten the Steelers three times in AFC title games since 2001. The second of those wins came in 2004, Roethlisberger’s rookie year.
“I’d say there is more respect than hatred,” Roethlisberger said of the Patriots via the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. “Obviously, they’ve gotten the better of us in two championship games. They’ve kind of had our number. We’re like the little brother trying to keep up with the big brother, in a sense.”
The Steelers have never beaten Tom Brady at Gillette Stadium. The last time they beat the Patriots came in 2011 at Pittsburgh. Since then, the Patriots have beaten the Steelers four straight times.
Roethlisberger called out the Steelers’ young receivers after the 36-17 loss to the Patriots. He reiterated that point Thursday in saying that the Steelers couldn’t afford to make mistakes against the Patriots.
“They have to play a bad game and you have to play a good game. We were a very young team. It might have been a little overwhelming for some of them.”
Calipari didn’t ask Roethlisberger if he’ll be back in 2017, but from what he says Roethlisberger sounds like a guy who sees some unfinished business.
Add The Sports Daily to your Google News Feed!
