QB Ben Roethlisberger reflects on Pittsburgh Steelers legacy, looks forward to next chapter after season ends in wild-card loss to Kansas City Chiefs

-- Steelers quarterback Ben Roethlisberger didn't use the word retirement following Pittsburgh's season-ending 42-21 playoff loss to the Kansas City Chiefs but called his 18-year career with the franchise "an honor'' and said he is "looking forward" to the next chapter.Roethlisberger and the Steelers didn't get the happy ending they had hoped for to cap his career during Sunday night's AFC wild-card showdown at Arrowhead Stadium, one in which he finished 29-of-44 passing for 215 yards and two second-half touchdowns after the game had long been decided.Afterward, most involved acted, and spoke, as if they had seen Roethlisberger play for the final time for the only team whose uniform he has worn in his NFL career."Man, he was [No.] 7. we didn't make the plays we had to early to give ourselves a chance,'' Roethlisberger said.Pittsburgh did not score a touchdown on offense -- a 13-yard scoring pass from Roethlisberger to Diontae Johnson -- until there was 4:10 remaining in the third quarter to make it a 35-14 game, a rather anticlimactic closing act on the quarterback's decorated career.The Steelers' only score before the third quarter had been a 26-yard fumble return by outside linebacker T.J. Watt that had briefly given them a 7-0 lead in the second quarter."No. 7, man, the way he's battled, the way he's always given us a chance -- when you talk about having toughness as a quarterback, when you talk about a guy who is going to give you everything he's got, you can't ask for more than that,'' Steelers defensive tackle Cam Heyward said.