Steelers quarterback Ben Roethlisberger told reporters Tuesday that he wants the Steelers go for two points after every touchdown they score in 2016.
What’s even more interesting is Roethlisberger said he and Steelers coach Mike Tomlin have talked about doing so.
Score one — or two — for at least thinking outside the box.
The 2015 rule change that moved the extra point kick back led to more teams trying two-point conversions than ever before, and no team did it as well as the Steelers. The Steelers led the NFL in two-point attempts (11) and conversions (8), and last September became the first team to try a two-point conversion in the first quarter of a game in 17 years.
Going for two 11 times in a season is still a far cry from going for two three or four times a game, but there’s some further history to back Roethlisberger’s case. The Steelers were 4-for-4 on two-point tries in 2014.
The Steelers have one of the league’s best offenses, so the thought of putting pressure on opponents by racing to score as many points as possible is an interesting one, even if it sometimes clashes with scoreboard logic and those old-school two-point charts. Also, Roethlisberger already takes a ton of hits and putting him in position to take even more instead of taking what’s almost always a free point is an issue that will certainly be raised.
It would probably only take one close loss on a day the Steelers failed to convert two or three times to get the natives ready to run Tomlin out of town, but at the very least this is a story worth following through the start of the season.