Ben Roethlisberger grew up watching the likes of Joe Montana and Brett Favre. On Sunday night, the Steelers‘ quarterback passed both players on the all-time career playoff passing list during the Steelers’ 42-21 AFC wild card game loss to the Kansas City Chiefs.
Roethlisberger, who is expected to retire, moved into third on the all-time list with 5,972 yards in 23 playoff games. He came into the game 16 yards from passing Montana and 99 yards from Favre. He finished the night with 215 yards passing and two touchdowns.
Roethlisberger now trails only Tom Brady (12,449 yards) and Peyton Manning (7,339 yards) for most passing yards in the postseason. The only active player in the top 10 besides Roethlisberger and Brady is Packers quarterback Aaron Rodgers, who is sixth all time with 5,669 yards.
Roethlisberger made it back to the playoffs for the 12th time in his 18 seasons in Pittsburgh. His postseason record fell to 13-10 with Sunday’s loss. Two of those victories were in Super Bowls XL and XLIII. Roethlisberger helped the Steelers reach a third Super Bowl in six years at the end of the 2010 season.
The Steelers’ all-time leader in games played, Roethlisberger owns the franchise record for most passing yards (501 against the Browns in the 2020 wild card round) and passing touchdowns (five against the Jaguars in the 2017 divisional round) in a playoff game. In all, Roethlisberger had 36 touchdowns and 28 interceptions in his postseason career.
Ironically, Roethlisberger’s most famous play in the postseason is a tackle. With the Steelers on the doorstep of upsetting the Colts in the 2005 divisional round, future Hall of Fame running back Jerome Bettis fumbled the ball with the Steelers protecting a 21-18 lead. The ball was scooped up by Colts defensive back Nick Harper, who started to run downfield before he was tripped up by Roethlisberger. The tackle ultimately preserved the victory for the Steelers, who would become the first sixth seed in NFL history to win the Super Bowl.
The 2021 season is expected to be the final one for Roethlisberger, who will leave the game with several NFL records and numerous franchise records.
