The Pittsburgh Steelers might be without Ben Roethlisberger for the rest of the season on a hit that Mike Pereira thinks was dirty.
Next: Ben Roethlisberger Injury Update
It was a harsh Sunday for both Pittsburgh Steelers fans and fantasy football owners who have Ben Roethlisberger on their roster. Not only did the quarterback have a quiet fantasy day but he left the contest against the St. Louis Rams with a horrifying knee injury that might end up ending his season.
An MRI will be done on Roethlisberger’s knee on Sunday night in Pittsburgh, but or now it doesn’t look pretty. The play in question isn’t being endlessly dissected for its legality, but that hasn’t stopped FOX Sports officiating expert Mike Pereira from breaking things down that way.
After the hit, Pereira pointed out that he thought the hit that injured the quarterback was an illegal hit that should have been flagged.
"I think the hit that injured #steelers QB Ben Roethlisberger was a foul. Here’s why: Via @KFC https://t.co/IHkfzIsZ90— Mike Pereira (@MikePereira) September 27, 2015"
There was no flag thrown on the play and there wasn’t a ton of discussion at the time about the play being of the unclean variety. That being said, when a big name player goes down like this, you alway look for the possibility that it was a dirty hit.
Now, there are varying degrees to what a ‘dirty’ play is. This is a play that wasn’t legal, according to Pereira but that doesn’t mean that Barron was gunning to injure Roethlisberger on purpose — it just ended up being a play that might not have been legal.
Steelers fans can’t be bothered with the legality of the play, as no matter how you slice it all of this comes down to the health of Roethlisberger and how long he is out.