Ben Roethlisberger is happy the Pittsburgh Steelers won. But like most fans, he\u2019s concerned about the team struggling to put away an undermanned Atlanta Falcons team with offensive issues that look too similar to past years.<\/p>\n
On his Footbahlin podcast,<\/a> Roethlisberger said preseason fears are being realized.<\/p>\n \u201cI think we saw in this game\u2026what could be the fears of this team,\u201d Roethlisberger said. \u201cThis season, this offense. The lack of protection on Aaron Rodgers. The lack of a run game. It wasn\u2019t a highly successful running game. The offensive line\u2026it makes me nervous.\u201d<\/p>\n Pittsburgh struggled to win up front offensively. Steelers\u2019 running backs averaged just 3.4 yards per carry, with Jaylen Warren and Rico Dowdle struggling to find running lanes. Rodgers was sacked twice and hit several more times.<\/p>\n Roethlisberger isn\u2019t the only one to express concern. Former teammates and offensive linemen themselves, Willie Colon<\/a> and Trai Essex,<\/a> expressed disappointment in the front\u2019s play. Not just from the right side of the line, the section under the spotlight during the summer, but from left tackle Troy Fautanu and left guard Mason McCormick. Both played below expectations.<\/p>\n Roethlisberger thinks a lack of in-stadium reps made for a clunky product.<\/p>\n \u201cThe argument is going to be, how much of that is lack of preseason reps?\u201d he said. \u201cNo preseason games, no preseason reps\u2026is that a side effect of not playing? Is it just rust?\u201d<\/p>\n