Mark Madden: Ben Roethlisberger is playing poorly, but his legacy among Steelers greats is secure

If you’re upset because the Pittsburgh Steelers are having a bad season, don’t be.

No team is good indefinitely. The Steelers started 11-0 last year, then lost five of six and showed clear symptoms of disintegrating. So did quarterback Ben Roethlisberger. Their already-bad offensive line further imploded via retirement and other departures.

These Steelers were never a playoff contender via any means besides wishful thinking.

Let’s hope the Steelers don’t win, say, eight games. That would enable them to con themselves (and you) into thinking they’re just a break or bounce away from renewed excellence.

Let’s hope the Steelers win four games (or less). That would net better draft picks and force them (and you) to confront their problems. They are great, and they are many.

The Steelers need to do more than pretend they’re a playoff team and patchwork accordingly. The Steelers need significant change.

If you want to get mad, be angry because the Steelers won three playoff games over the past 10 years despite having the talent to do much better.

The Steelers had a nailed-on Hall of Fame quarterback, a borderline Hall of Fame coach, the best receiver of his era and several other legit All-Pros but couldn’t do better than the AFC championship game (and reached that only once).

It wasn’t like the Steelers constantly were derailed by the New England/Tom Brady dynasty. That happened just once in that period. They also got knocked out by Jacksonville and Cleveland. Those defeats were among three times they got eliminated at home.

That’s when the Steelers underachieved: the past 10 seasons. Not now.

If you’re upset because Roethlisberger is playing poorly, that’s understandable. He can’t move and can’t throw. What else is there? Roethlisberger played (at least) a season too long.

But if you’re denying Roethlisberger his legacy as one of the three most important people in the history of the Steelers, or backtracking to minimize what he accomplished, that’s wrong.

If not for Roethlisberger, the Steelers still would be stuck on four Super Bowls and reminiscing nonstop about the 1970s. (There’s an element of that anyway.)

Roethlisberger has been a savior for the Steelers. It was 21 not-too-productive seasons between Terry Bradshaw’s exit and Roethlisberger’s arrival, which shows the rarity of franchise quarterbacks. Some teams never get a QB like that.

Roethlisberger shouldn’t get to dictate how his career ends, especially after how this season has started. But the team, city and fans should treat him with dignity and respect.

If Roethlisberger continues to struggle, here’s betting he gets “hurt,” not benched. (That’s assuming he doesn’t get really hurt.) That’s the way to approach his decline.

But make zero mistake about Roethlisberger’s legacy: Joe Greene, Terry Bradshaw and Roethlisberger are the three most important people in Steelers history. Erase them, and the Steelers don’t win any Super Bowls.

Greene’s arrival started the team’s turnaround from laughingstock, and he is the Steelers’ most impactful defensive player ever.

Quarterback is the most important position. Bradshaw already is enshrined in Canton. Roethlisberger will be.

Chuck Noll is arguably football’s greatest coach, but coaches don’t play. Same goes for owners.

Pittsburgh’s appreciation for Roethlisberger always has been underwhelming.

When a team loses, the quarterback absorbs the most heat. That’s in the job description.

But when the Steelers have won, heroes besides Roethlisberger too readily have been found. His accomplishments too often havebeen minimized.

For example, it’s often floated that the Steelers won Super Bowl XL in 2006 despite Roethlisberger.

On the day, that was true. Roethlisberger completed 9 of 21 passes for 123 yards. He threw no touchdowns and an interception. His passer rating was an anemic 22.6. Roethlisberger was awful, carrying that performance around with him like a disease until he excelled in winning Super Bowl XLIII three years later.

But Roethlisberger sparkled in the march to Super Bowl XL as the Steelers won eight straight to capture the championship, including three straight road playoff games.

His passer rating was 148.7 in a wild-card win at Cincinnati, 124.9 in the conference final at Denver. Roethlisberger made a famous game-saving tackle in the divisional-round victory at Indianapolis when everybody’s hero, Jerome Bettis, fumbled at the goal line and the Colts’ Nick Harper picked up the ball and starting running the other way.

But critics ignore that. They pick at Roethlisberger’s failings like they’re scabs. (That’s got a lot to do with the two sexual assault allegations made toward Roethlisberger. There was zero evidence, but his reputation still is marred.)

Society is miserable. People like to be mad.

But, Roethlisberger’s current failure duly noted, Steelers fans should be overjoyed about his career and be unflinchingly respectful to the man and what he has done.