http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/10347/1110341-66.stmSteelers quarterback Ben Roethlisberger continues to be perplexed by some of the illegal hits to the head and the calls officials are refusing to make after opposing defenders strike him in the helmet.
For the second consecutive week, Roethlisberger was struck in the head, and the referee did not throw a flag. In the second quarter, Cincinnati defensive end Michael Johnson hit the back of his helmet as he sacked Roethlisberger.
"I lost my cool for a second, but I didn't swear at him," Roethlisberger said. "Once again I got the same response as last week. He said he was just trying to tackle me. So I just let it go."
Roethlisberger's nose was broken when Ravens defensive tackle Haloti Ngata's hand hit him last week. He also was hit in the head by Terrell Suggs late in the same game and did not receive a flag. Ngata was fined by the league.
Roethlisberger said there is no sense in complaining about not receiving protection from the officials.
"It is what it is," he said. "It's a violent game. You've never heard me complain about injuries or calls, so I'm not going to start now."
Roethlisberger's teammates are wondering when the officials are going to begin protecting their franchise quarterback.
"We see the hits that Ben takes every week," linebacker James Farrior said. "It's kind of ridiculous that they always miss those calls but any time we breathe on a quarterback they always seem to find that.
"When? We [have] three more games left. I mean, how long should it take?
"It's terrible, man. They protect all the quarterbacks but ours. We're going to keep fighting, we're going to keep on going. Hopefully, they'll catch it some day."
Said safety Ryan Clark: "I already told you, they protect every quarterback in the NFL but ours. I don't know how many times I have to say it. And they protect the ones we play a lot."
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