OAKLAND, Calif. — Pittsburgh Steelers quarterback Ben Roethlisberger returned late in the fourth quarter after suffering a rib injury against the Oakland Raiders.
Roethlisberger left the Oakland-Alameda County Stadium field with 10 seconds left in the second quarter after a 1-yard touchdown pass to JuJu Smith-Schuster gave Pittsburgh a 14-10 lead. Backup Josh Dobbs started the second half, and Roethlisberger emerged from the tunnel early in the third quarter.
But after the Steelers lost the lead, Roethlisberger returned with less than six minutes left in the game and promptly restored his team’s lead by driving them down the field and throwing another TD pass to Smith-Schuster.
However, the Steelers ultimately lost 24-21 as the Raiders scored on their final possession, and Pittsburgh’s Chris Boswell slipped on a potential game-tying 40-yard field goal in the final seconds.
Earlier in the game, Roethlisberger took a sack and another shot from the Raiders’ defense. On one second-down throw in the red zone, Roethlisberger stayed down for a few seconds after a hit.
He was 18-of-22 passing for 164 yards and a touchdown before the injury.
The Steelers’ offense struggled without him as Dobbs completed three of his first seven passes for 18 yards and an interception. He finished 4 of 9 for 24 yards, with two rushes for 15 yards.
Despite knee injuries in 2015 and 2016, Roethlisberger has been largely healthy the past two seasons.
The Steelers play the New England Patriots next Sunday at Heinz Field in a matchup with major playoff implications.