“You need to call your timeout; you’ve got to figure out your best play,” Ben Roethlisberger called out to Mike Tomlin on his late-game decisions last year. This year, once again, the Super Bowl champ came back with another judgment on the head coach’s decision at Pittsburgh. On Tuesday, the future Hall of Famer offered his opinions about the team’s roster moves and warned about the long-term outlook of the team.

Talking on Channel Seven, Roethlisberger complimented aspects of Pittsburgh’s offensive strategy but conceded he was left confused with the manner in which head coach Mike Tomlin utilized his roster. Acknowledging coach Smith on “a nice game plan, play action, (and) spread the ball around,” Roethlisberger was clear regarding what irked him most. ”You never saw Caleb in there for whatever reason,” he said. ” So my positive is on Aaron……My negative is on the rush, the running game. You’re supposed to draft linemen and running backs, and trade or pick up gain. Well, you got rid of Najee. You made Jaylen, paid him to be the feature back, and you rushed for 53 yards. That can’t sit well.”

Steelers’ releasing Najee Harris during the offseason and giving the backfield to Jaylen Warren was a stark change of course. But in Week 1, the performance did not exactly instill confidence. Warren ran 11 times for only 37 yards, with Kenneth Gainwell coming in as the second-leading rusher, prompting many, including Roethlisberger, to question whether Pittsburgh had improved its offensive base or undermined it.

Roethlisberger didn’t remain in the running game. His analysis became more pointed when speaking of the problems at the offensive line, especially at left tackle. “With all due respect, Broderick  Jones looks like a turnstile,” he bluntly stated. “I don’t know how many of the sacks were on him, but it felt like there was a lot of pressure coming from that left side.” Broderick Jones, the Steelers’ first-round selection in 2023, was alternating between right and left tackle early in his career. Sunday, his performance raised warning signs. The Steelers gave up four sacks altogether, the third-most by any team in Week 1, exposing Aaron Rodgers in his first start with the team. Roethlisberger connected the dots fast: unless the O-line gets better, Rodgers’ health and the Steelers’ season can go south fast.

In spite of these glaring flaws, Pittsburgh was able to leave with a win in its season opener. In perhaps the most hyped Week 1 game, Aaron Rodgers and the Steelers bested Justin Fields and the New York Jets, 34-32, in a seesaw affair. Both quarterbacks were sharp. Rodgers went for 244 yards and four touchdowns through the air, and Fields responded with 218 passing yards, a touchdown, and 48 rushing yards with two scores on the ground. Hence, despite all the issues with the offensive line, Rodgers still performed.

Rodgers’ durability tests Mike Tomlin

For Roethlisberger, the result didn’t eliminate the underlying worry: Rodgers’ capacity to take a pounding over a long season. On his Footbahlin’ podcast, the ex-quarterback expressed awe at Rodgers’ Week 1 performance but cautioned against the risk of repeated impacts. “I’m very encouraged by the way Aaron played,” Roethlisberger said. “My concern is going to be, moving forward, can Aaron take a beating like that every week? Not at that age because some of those, like even when he didn’t get sacked, he got hit so hard like he came off the ground, and he’s 40-something and that’s not good.”

Hence, Roethlisberger feels “Aaron’s going to get destroyed. And so it makes me nervous. The rushing game and the sack game because that goes on the O line and they’re out there, right? We’re not waiting on anybody to come back from injury, right? So if that doesn’t improve, we’re not gonna have a quarterback very long, and it’s going to be a rough season.”

Pittsburgh’s dependence on Rodgers is absolute. At age 41, he remains sharp, able to guide explosive drives and direct the huddle with confidence. But his durability is now the narrative. Steelers backup Mason Rudolph is veteran but can not be considered as a long-term solution. If Rodgers goes down, the optimism of this season would disappear in an instant.

With the Steelers heading into Week 2, Tomlin has a tricky task. That is to have confidence in his reconfigured roster. If not, then make changes that bolster the line and rejuvenate the run game. Roethlisberger’s criticism hurts. But it is sentiment shared by many in Pittsburgh. Without a tougher-upfront shield, Rodgers’ early success will be risky.