When he spoke of retirement in the offseason, one reason mentioned by Ben Roethlisberger was the concern his wife, Ashley, had for his long-term health.
Ashley must be sleeping pretty easily these days – or at least as easily as the wife of an NFL quarterback who has three young children can.
The Steelers (6-2) take a streak of 11 consecutive quarters without having allowed Roethlisberger to be sacked into their game Sunday in Indianapolis. And an offensive line that has been makeshift, at times, playing five full games and part of another without right tackle Marcus Gilbert and one without guard Ramon Foster, has been a big part of that.
It's not something that goes overlooked by Roethlisberger, who has been sacked just 10 times this season. Only Drew Brees in New Orleans, with eight, has been sacked less.
"I think I’ve got the best line in the business," Roethlisberger said when I asked him about his line. "People want to talk about some of the other lines out there. I’ll put my guys up against anybody, anytime, run blocking, pass blocking. Obviously, not giving up any sacks, that makes me feel better and it makes my wife and the rest of my family feel better, too."
The line is pretty happy about it, as well.
When I mentioned to Foster that his quarterback hasn't been sacked in 11 quarters, his eyes lit up.
"Aw man, that’s nice," Foster told me. "(I) was not aware of it. We try to tally it up at the end of the season. At this point, nobody has really brought it up. We felt we were in a good spot, but there’s no sense in enjoying it because we’ve still got eight games left."
Early in his career, sacks and Roethlisberger were synonymous. From 2006 through 2009, he was sacked 189 times, the most in the league over that period.
But the team began investing high draft picks on offensive linemen in 2010, adding Pouncey in the first round that season. Gilbert was added the following year in the second round and Pro Bowl right guard David DeCastro was a first-round pick in 2012.
The team also hired Todd Haley as offensive coordinator in 2012 with the marching orders from team president Art Rooney II to have the franchise quarterback take fewer hits and thereby extend his career.
Now 35, Roethlisberger has seen his sacks decrease each season since 2013, when he was taken down 42 times. That number dropped to 33 in 2014, 20 in 2015 and 17 last season. As a team, the Steelers allowed 21 sacks in 2016, three more than Oakland's league-best total.
It's something in which the line takes extreme pride.
"Absolutely," Pouncey told me. "(Shoot), when you’re playing with a Hall of Fame quarterback, the game slows down a lot. He threw everything out there on the field. That’s one of the things the guys take a lot of pride in. We kind of messed it up at the end (of last season). We wanted to be No. 1 in that last year. It’s a lot on our shoulders, but we’re good with that."
Roethlisberger's play hasn't been up to previous standards, but the Steelers are winning. A big reason for that has been the team's decision to rely more on its running game. Following a loss to Dallas last season that dropped the team to 4-5, running back Le'Veon Bell has averaged over 25 carries per game. The Steelers are 15-3 – including the playoffs – in that time. But they also still count on Roethlisberger to make big plays when needed.
"Our whole thing has been, even when we were bad, if we keep him clean, we have a better chance," Foster told me. "That’s been our mentality. When he talked about his family concerns and whatever, I don’t think that bothered us too much. To us, keep him clean because we want to win a championship. When he’s on the field, period, it changes the dynamic.
"If we protect him and keep him on the field, there’s a higher chance of us winning."
And they have done that well this season.
If the Steelers continue to do so, they feel like they can achieve their ultimate goal of winning another championship. Then again, when only a few players on the roster – Roethlisberger, James Harrison and William Gay – have won a Super Bowl, the hunger is there to reach that goal now.
That's especially true with Roethlisberger having talked openly about retirement in the offseason.
And if they can extend their sackless streak even longer, they'd be quite content with that, as well.
"I think it’s just guys all working together, guys running the right routes, guys doing a good job blocking and him getting rid of the ball," Pouncey said. "That’s crazy, though. That’s a great stat. It’s awesome.
"We take a lot of pride in that. We try to do a good job of keeping him upright, keeping his mind right. You take big hits late in your career, it kind of plays with you. Honestly, he stands in the pocket. He’s tough as (nails). He gets hit, he jumps right back up. We’re like, ‘Ah, there it is.’"
HARRISON, MITCHELL ON INJURY LIST
The Steelers returned to practice Wednesday and had just two players who were not full participants. Safety Mike Mitchell (Achilles' tendon) was a limited participant, while Harrison did not practice with a back injury.
Gilbert, defensive end Stephon Tuitt and tight end Vance McDonald, all of whom missed the team's previous game in Detroit, were full participants.