page_title: Ben Roethlisberger
section_title: 2008 season: Second Super Bowl championship
hierarchical_section_title: Ben Roethlisberger / Professional career / 2008 season: Second Super Bowl championship
caption_attribution_description: Pittsburgh Steelers players Ben Roethlisberger, Limas Sweed (14), and Troy Polamalu (43) prior to a 2008 game.
context_page_description: Benjamin Todd Roethlisberger Sr., nicknamed "Big Ben", is an American football quarterback for the Pittsburgh Steelers of the National Football League. He played college football at Miami University, and was drafted by the Steelers in the first round of the 2004 NFL Draft.
  Roethlisberger earned the AP NFL Offensive Rookie of the Year Award in 2004 and his first Pro Bowl selection in 2007. In 2006 he became the youngest Super Bowl-winning quarterback in NFL history, leading the Steelers, in only his second professional season, to a 21–10 victory over the Seattle Seahawks in Super Bowl XL at the age of 23. Roethlisberger led the Steelers to a second Super Bowl title in four seasons as they defeated the Arizona Cardinals in Super Bowl XLIII, 27–23, after completing a game-winning touchdown pass to Santonio Holmes with 35 seconds left in the game. He appeared in his third Super Bowl in Super Bowl XLV, but the team would lose by a score of 31–25 to the Green Bay Packers.
  Roethlisberger has been one of the most efficient passers in NFL history.
context_section_description: On March 4, 2008, the Pittsburgh Steelers and Roethlisberger agreed to an eight-year, $102 million contract. Roethlisberger had two years left on his original that he signed after the draft. He has stated that he wants to retire as a Steeler.
  In Week 1 against the Houston Texans, Roethlisberger completed 13 of 14 passes for a career-high 92.9 completion percentage (minimum 10 attempts), and finished with 137 yards passing and two touchdown passes in the 38–17 win. Byron Leftwich took over in the fourth quarter when Roethlisberger was on the sideline with a shoulder injury. The next week against the Cleveland Browns, he had the first pass reception of his career: a negative-seven-yard completion to himself after a deflected pass in the second quarter. In a 15–6 loss to the Philadelphia Eagles in Week 3, Roethlisberger was sacked eight times, fumbled twice, threw one interception, and was called for a safety in the fourth quarter. He did not finish the game, as his throwing hand was injured.
  On Monday Night Football against the Baltimore Ravens in Week 4, the Steelers trailed 13–3 at halftime. Roethlisberger threw a touchdown pass to Santonio Holmes in the third quarter to start a comeback. He completed two passes to Mewelde Moore for 31 yards in overtime, setting up Jeff Reed for the winning 46-yard field goal. The next week, Roethlisberger threw for 239 yards in the first half—a career-high for one half—and directed the game-winning drive, passing for an eight-yard touchdown to Hines Ward to defeat the Jacksonville Jaguars by a score of 26–21. He was named AFC Offensive Player of the Week and the FedEx Air Player of the Week for his performance.
  Roethlisberger had one of the worst performances of his career in a Week 9 23–6 win over the Washington Redskins, posting career lows in passer rating (15.1), completions (5), passing yards (50), yards per attempt (2.94) and completion percentage (29.4%). In Week 13 at New England, in consistent rain, Roethlisberger completed 17 of 33 passes for 179 yards, two touchdowns, and one interception. After falling behind, 10–3, in the second quarter, Roethlisberger led the Steelers to 30 unanswered points in a 33–10 victory.
  Against the Dallas Cowboys in Week 14, Roethlisberger had his 49th victory as a starting quarterback, breaking the record for the most wins by a quarterback in their first five NFL seasons. The Steelers clinched the AFC North in Week 15 with a win over the Baltimore Ravens, and with a loss to the Tennessee Titans the following week clinched the No. 2 seed in the playoffs. The Steelers defeated the San Diego Chargers in the Divisional Round and the Baltimore Ravens in the AFC Championship en route to the Super Bowl.
  In Super Bowl XLIII against the Arizona Cardinals, Roethlisberger led the Steelers to one of the more dramatic victories in Super Bowl history. On the first two offensive drives, Roethlisberger passed for 122 yards on seven of eight passing attempts, which was one yard shy of his total amount from his first Super Bowl start. The Steelers led, 10–0, and went into halftime up, 17–7. The lead grew to 20–7 before Arizona mounted a comeback. Trailing for the first time in the game, 23–20, with 2:30 remaining in the game, Roethlisberger took the field to start the winning drive. After a holding penalty on the first play, Roethlisberger marched the Steelers 88 yards in eight plays, hooking up with game MVP Santonio Holmes four times for 73 yards on the drive, including the six-yard touchdown pass that put the Steelers ahead with 0:35 remaining. Overall, Roethlisberger finished 21 of 30 for 256 yards, one touchdown, and one interception. He had a passer rating of 93.2.
caption: Roethlisberger in Nashville prior to a game in 2008
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