AFC North: Biggest question for each team in 2020

Pittsburgh Steelers: Does the return of Big Ben mean more balance on offense?

His 2019 campaign lasted just six quarters. And the Pittsburgh Steelers all-time leader in passing yards and touchdown throws was shelved for the rest of the year and would eventually undergo elbow surgery. But by all indications, veteran signal-caller Ben Roethlisberger enters his 17th NFL season ready, healthy and able to help this team get back on track.

However, the quarterback who led the NFL with 5,129 passing yards in 2018 needs to get a little more support from a ground attack that has really been absentee for the past two seasons.

Of course, last season’s showing by the offense was certainly an anomaly. There were three different starting quarterbacks in Roethlisberger, Mason Rudolph and Devlin Hodges. Injuries severely limited the playing time of running back James Conner and wide receiver JuJu Smith-Schuster.

Still, offensive coordinator Randy Fichtner stressed the passing attack even with the team’s lack of experience behind center. And that has really been the case since he took over the job in 2018. That year, Pittsburgh finished next-to-last in the NFL in rushing yards per game. This past season, Mike Tomlin’s club managed only 90.4 yards per game on the ground — 29th in the league.

It goes without saying that even talented and savvy “Big Ben” can’t do it alone and will need more support from the running attack.