Terrell Suggs and the Baltimore Ravens were a problem for the Pittsburgh Steelers during the 2000s and 2010s. The Ravens became the Steelers’ biggest rival during that time, and Suggs played a big part in that. Steelers- Ravens games had a certain level of physicality that stood above the rest of the NFL. While those battles were intense, it created a respect between both sides, too. That includes Suggs saying that Ben Roethlisberger was the most difficult quarterback for him to sack in his career.
“He was the hardest,” Suggs said recently on the This is Football podcast. “It’s a group effort. We understood when we was playing them, ‘We’re not just depending on one guy to get him down. We’re gang tackling everybody, but especially him.’ Ben Roethlisberger was definitely the hardest.”
Roethlisberger was sacked 554 times in his career, fifth-most all-time. While that might make it seem like he wasn’t as hard to bring down as Suggs describes, Roethlisberger was more evasive than he gets credit for.
Suggs played from 2003-2019, and he totaled 139 sacks during that time. Therefore, he has experience bringing down plenty of different quarterbacks. However, Roethlisberger stands out as the toughest to bring down.
That’s not surprising to hear, though. Suggs sacked Roethlisberger 12 times in the regular season. That’s the most times any player brought the Steelers quarterback down. Roethlisberger had an ability to shake off even the strongest defenders, including Suggs. Roethlisberger won that matchup just as much as he lost it.
My 2nd favorite Ben Roethlisberger play of all-time, only trailing his Super Bowl throw to Santonio, is an incompletion. The strength to fend Suggs off, throw the ball away, make an impossible play (with a broken nose) sums up his game and the Steelers/Ravens rivalry. pic.twitter.com/pr3LYo7DCb
— Alex Kozora (@Alex_Kozora) July 1, 2019
Despite the rivalry between them, Suggs and Roethlisberger developed a lot of respect for each other. They’ve said plenty of kind things about each other since they retired. They often brought out the best in each other, and the Steelers-Ravens rivalry wouldn’t have been the same without either of them.
Now, both Suggs and Roethlisberger are looking to make the Pro Football Hall of Fame. Suggs was eligible for the Class of 2025, but he didn’t make it. We’ll see if that changes in 2026. Meanwhile, 2027 will mark Roethlisberger’s first year of eligibility. He has a good case to be a first-ballot Hall of Famer, but we’ll see if the voting committee agrees.
It would be fitting if they went in the same year, though. Suggs and Roethlisberger helped define a generation a football, and they’ve got plenty of highlights against each other.
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