Ben Roethlisberger's NFL-leading 5,129 passing yards were accompanied by a league-leading 16 interceptions.
The latter, to an extent, is part of the cost of doing business the way Roethlisberger does it for the Steelers.
"I'm a guy that's gonna take chances," he assessed after his 2018 season had been completed. "I could probably not throw some of the passes that have gotten intercepted and take a sack or not force some balls here and there that end up being good plays, but that's the way I play the game."
It was a lot more spectacular than maddening this season, as Roethlisberger's career-high 34 touchdown passes will attest.
One of the most memorable of those, a 38-yard strike to wide receiver Antonio Brown on Dec. 2 against the Chargers, was representative of Roethlisberger at his best.
He initially held the ball behind ample protection after completing a five-step drop, eventually flushed left to buy a little more time and then finally hit Brown running across the back of the end zone away from double-coverage.
"Sometimes you want to say, 'Where did that come from?'" offensive coordinator Randy Fichtner observed in the wake of the Chargers game. "And then other times you're like, 'Where did that come from?' It's just a matter of how you say it.
Take a look at the top photos from the Steelers 2018 season

Ben Roethlisberger

Cameron Heyward

Terrell Edmunds

Cameron Heyward and T.J. Watt

Jordan Dangerfield

Sean Davis

James Conner

Ben Roethlisberger on the run

Anthony Chickillo

Ben Roethlisberger

Vince Williams

A 2018 Regular Season game between the Pittsburgh Steelers and the Denver Broncos on Sunday, November 25, 2018. The Broncos defeated the Steelers 24-17.

Antonio Brown

Alejandro Villanueva

Jaylen Samuels

JuJu Smith-Schuster

Tyler Matakevich

Terrell Edmunds

Antonio Brown

Antonio Brown

Cameron Heyward

JuJu Smith-Schuster

Sean Davis

Vance McDonald

Morgan Burnett and Terrell Edmunds

Chukwuma Okorafor

Jesse James

Joshua Dobbs

James Conner

A 2018 Regular Season game between the Pittsburgh Steelers and the Los Angeles Chargers on December 2, 2018. The Chargers defeated the Steelers 33-30.

Ben Roethlisberger

JuJu Smith-Schuster

Vince Williams

JuJu Smith-Schuster

Ola Adeniyi and Cameron Heyward

Joe Haden

Joe Haden and L.J. Fort

Ryan Shazier

David DeCastro

JuJu Smith-Schuster

Sean Davis

Mike Tomlin

Jordan Dangerfield

Antonio Brown

Vance McDonald

JuJu Smith-Schuster

Terrell Edmunds

T.J. Watt

JuJu Smith-Schuster

James Conner

Ryan Switzer

Vance McDonald

T.J. Watt

Ben Roethlisberger

James Conner

Cameron Heyward

Jesse James and Vance McDonald

Antonio Brown

A 2018 Regular Season game between the Pittsburgh Steelers and the Cincinnati Bengals on December 30, 2018.

T.J. Watt

James Conner

Joshua Dobbs

Jesse James

T.J. Watt

JuJu Smith-Schuster

T.J. Watt

Antonio Brown

A 2018 Regular Season game between the Pittsburgh Steelers and the Carolina Panthers on November 8, 2018.

JuJu Smith-Schuster

David DeCastro

Ben Roethlisberger

Cameron Heyward and Vince Williams

Ben Roethlisberger and Mrs. Rooney

Ben Roethlisberger

Mike Tomlin

Cameron Heyward

Antonio Brown

Jesse James

A 2018 Regular Season game between the Pittsburgh Steelers and the Tampa Bay Buccaneers on Monday, September 24, 2018. The Steelers defeated the Buccaneers 30-27.

Mike Tomlin

Ben Roethlisberger

James Conner

Antonio Brown and JuJu Smith-Schuster

Joshua Dobbs

Sean Davis

Vance McDonald

Antonio Brown

Artie Burns, Cameron Heyward and Vince Williams

A 2018 Regular Season game between the Pittsburgh Steelers and the Tampa Bay Buccaneers on Monday, September 24, 2018. The Steelers defeated the Buccaneers 30-27.

James Conner

James Conner

Roosevelt Nix

Zach Banner
"That throw he made the other day (against the Chargers), not many people are making those throws. And the ones that are, you know their names, (Aaron) Rodgers, (Tom) Brady, (Drew) Brees, we're talking about the best players in the game.
"And then sometimes you just say, 'C'mon Ben, you can't make that play every time, sometimes it bites you.'"
The Steelers trust Roethlisberger's instincts and his ability to execute throws a lot of other quarterbacks wouldn't attempt enough that they've commenced negotiations on a contract extension for Roethlisberger, Steelers president Art Rooney II confirmed last week in a conference call with Steelers Nation Unite members.
"We've already started talking to him and his representative about extending that contract," Rooney said. "I think Ben has some good years left. I'd still say he's close to being in the prime of his career."
The Steelers also trust Roethlisberger's experience and his leadership.
"I think he's able to stand up and, after 15 years of being a leader of this team and caring, I think he's able to stand up and say 'my bad,'" Fichtner said. "That's part of the game, too.
"I'm not afraid to say it. I don't think he's afraid to say it. And that's kind of what we're hoping to develop amongst our group. If I make a mistake, they make a mistake, hey, I'll own up to it, to my buddies, my teammates, and I'm gonna try not to make that mistake again."
Roethlisberger's 5,000-yard season was historic on a league level as well as in Steelers' history.
Only Brees (five times), Brady, Peyton Manning, Dan Marino and Matthew Stafford had eclipsed that milestone previously.
Patrick Mahomes also did so in 2018.
The last of Roethlisberger's 16 interceptions, conversely, stood as an example of what can happen when you put the ball in the air an NFL-leading 675 times, despite the best of intentions.
Bengals safety Shawn Williams' 58-yard pick-six in the second quarter of the regular-season finale occurred on a play on which the Steelers were convinced the Bengals had jumped offside.
"Never would have thrown it if I didn't think we had a free play," Roethlisberger said. "Sometimes, fluky things happen.
"But we've also had some big plays happen when things like that happen."
Take a look at the top photos from the Steelers 2018 season

A 2018 Regular Season game between the Pittsburgh Steelers and the New England Patriots on December 16, 2018. The Steelers defeated the Patriots 17-10.

Roosevelt Nix and JuJu Smith-Schuster

Nat Berhe and Mike Hilton

David DeCastro

A 2018 Regular Season game between the Pittsburgh Steelers and the Los Angeles Chargers on December 2, 2018.

Ryan Switzer

Cameron Sutton

Sean Davis

Cameron Heyward

Mason Rudolph

Chris Boswell

Vance McDonald

JuJu Smith-Schuster

Aaron Rodgers and Antonio Brown

Marcus Allen

JuJu Smith-Schuster

Ben Roethlisberger

Jaylen Samuels

Stephon Tuitt

Head Coach Mike Tomlin

Bud Dupree

JuJu Smith-Schuster

Jonathan Bostic and Javon Hargrave

Joe Haden

Antonio Brown

Head Coach Mike Tomlin

T.J. Watt

Jaylen Samuels

James Washington

Jaylen Samuels

Cameron Heyward

A 2018 Regular Season game between the Pittsburgh Steelers and the Cincinnati Bengals on December 30, 2018.

Anthony Chickillo

Cameron Heyward

A 2018 Regular Season game between the Pittsburgh Steelers and the Cleveland Browns on October 28, 2018. The Steelers defeated the Browns 33-18.

James Conner

Cameron Heyward

Ben Roethlisberger

Ryan Switzer

Jesse James

A 2018 Regular Season game between the Pittsburgh Steelers and the Denver Broncos on Sunday, November 25, 2018. The Broncos defeated the Steelers 24-17.

Ben Roethlisberger

Head Coach Mike Tomlin

James Conner

Cameron Heyward and Sean Davis

Antonio Brown and James Conner

T.J. Watt

Cameron Heyward

Bud Dupree

Antonio Brown

Jesse James

James Conner

Marcus Gilbert, David DeCastro, Maurkice Pouncey, Ramon Foster and Alejandro Villanueva

Ben Roethlisberger

Vance McDonald

T.J. Watt and Stephon Tuitt

Anthony Chickillo

T.J. Watt

A 2018 Regular Season game between the Carolina Panthers on November 8, 2018.

Stephon Tuitt

Jordan Berry

Jaylen Samuels and Ramon Foster

Jesse James

Ramon Foster, JuJu Smith-Schuster, and Vance McDonald

Antonio Brown and Jaylen Samuels

JuJu Smith-Schuster

A 2018 Regular Season game between the Pittsburgh Steelers and the Baltimore Ravens on September 30, 2018. The Ravens defeated the Steelers 26-14.

James Conner, Antonio Brown, and JuJu Smith-Schuster

JuJu Smith-Schuster

Ben Roethlisberger

JuJu Smith-Schuster, Ryan Switzer, Ben Roethlisberger and Darrius Heyward-Bey

Sean Davis, Jonathan Bostic, and Coty Sensabaugh

Ola Adeniyi

T.J. Watt

Jordan Dangerfield

L.J. Fort

Joe Manganiello, Sofia Vergara and JuJu Smith-Schuster

Antonio Brown

Morgan Burnett

Vance McDonald

Chris Boswell

Anthony Chickillo

Roosevelt Nix

Ben Roethlisberger

Joe Haden and Mike Hilton

Sean Davis and L.J. Fort

James Conner and JuJu Smith-Schuster

Daniel McCullers

Cameron Heyward and Jonathan Bostic

Antonio Brown

Vance McDonald

Joe Haden

Ben Roethlisberger and Cameron Heyward