If This Is Big Ben’s Last Ride, Can He Make It A Good One?

• Ben Roethlisberger might retire at the end of 2021, with -300 odds to do so.

PITTSBURGH – Ben Roethlisberger might be on his way out of the NFL. The two time Super Bowl champion had a rough go of it in the second half of last season, and while he is back, this could be his last ride.

If this does end up being Big Ben’s farewell tour, can his team recover from an epic second-half collapse in order to make another Super Bowl run?

The Pittsburgh Steelers were utterly dominant throughout the first half of the season, winning 11 games before they lost their first one. However, they ended up losing so many games down the stretch that they had to play in the Wild Card game, which they lost to the Cleveland Browns.

The Steelers ended up with the third shortest odds to win their division, only outdoing the bottom-feeding Cincinnati Bengals.

This is a sharp fall for a team that won 11 games in a row last season, and it’s mostly justified by the idea that the Steelers vastly overperformed in order to do so.

The Ravens and Browns, on the other hand, either improved over the second half of the season while the Steelers wilted, added solid pieces to bolster their team, or both. Thus, the Ravens and Browns have ended up as the two serious divisional contenders, while the Steelers are relegated to the third spot.

As for Roethlisberger, the Steelers were a pass-heavy team in 2020, which allowed him to rack up 3803 passing yards and 33 passing touchdowns on the year.

He did this in 15 games, and there will be an additional game in the 2021 season compared to 2020.

Roethlisberger 3901+ Passing Yards & 30+ Passing TDs +300

This additional context makes the odds on Roethlisberger’s yards and TD’s prop bet a bit more ominous. The sportsbooks seemingly don’t think that he can be as good as he was last year, or they think he will get less opportunities than he did last year.

In fact, the Steelers have shorter odds to win under 6.5 games than Roethlisberger does to have as good of a season as he did last year.

Pittsburgh Steelers Under 6.5 Regular Season Wins +250

This all raises the question – if Roethlisberger is as bad as the NFL sportsbooks think he might be, will that precipitate retirement?

Maxwell Sanders

Maxwell joined the BettingSuperBowl team in 2019 and is thrilled to be working for a website that so mirrors his interests. Maxwell is an avid follower of sports, a consumer of sports gambling news, and seeks to constantly better himself and his readers.