May 18, 2012
Blog by John Steigerwald
This is the time of year when the NFL lists come out.
Where should Ben Roethlisberger rank on the list of NFL quarterbacks?
Before last season I said that I wouldn’t trade him for any other QB in the NFL.
I’m wavering on that a little bit now, but I still think he’s in the Top 3.
Joe Starkey does a great job of summing up Roethlisberger without getting too hung up on the stats.
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Date: August 25, 2011
Categories: Sports
You say that Joe Starkey does a great job of summing up Roethlisberger and I could not agree more! Leave all the off field stuff out of it for now, Ben Roethlisberger IS, without question, one of the top QB’s in the NFL today.
Peyton Manning throws from a cocoon, if he took 25% of he hits Ben takes he’d be out of the league permanently by week 8.
Tom Brady, do you see him turn to the official and whine every time a defender gets withing 5 feet of him after a throw is released?
Carson Palmer, what did he ever win? Do you remember all the times he put his team on his shoulders and carried them to victory? Neither do I.
Philip Rivers, He can throw for miles in September and October, where’s he at in December, January….. and February?
Ben Roethlisberger, I can’t say it any better than Mr. Starkey did, I won’t even try, just read his article above.
I still think Brady is overrated. If you put Brady on the Steelers and Roethlisberger on the Patrots, Ben would be as good if not better than he is on the steelers, Brady would be worse. Put Manning on the Patriots and Brady on the Colts and Manningwould be as good if not better than he is on the colts, Brady would be worse. I just don’t see Brady having the success anywhere else that he has had with the Patriots. Compound that with the fact that his back ups who often have little or no pedigree are almost as successful as he is. With a healthy Polamalu and McFadden last February Ben would have three rings.
This seems like lazy blogging to me John. Just kidding. Since I can’t get the Trib Sportstalk on my radio yet I still tune into the FAN but if I have to keep listening to Starkey and pals spend 4 hours discussing the top 5 list of the day I am going to smash the radio.
You can get Triblive radio on your smart phone at sportstalk@tribweb.com
I would take Ben over everyone of the other QB’s with the exception of Brady if I had a solid o-line. If it was a straight up trade that one of the other QB’s had to play behind our line I wouldn’t trade ben for any of them. I honestly beleive he is going to have the best year of his career coming up.
The most idiotic comment we always have to listen to is when the experts tell us that they’d rather have a done nothing QB like Rivers over a two time SB winning QB in Ben. Utterly ridiculous.
one thing bens always had is great defenses while hes qb here…im not saying the guy dosent make plays after the play breaks down…its just the guy has 12guys on the other side of the ball playing lights out defense year after year for the steelers…is ben a winning qb without those steeler defenses…thats hard to imagine…sure hes gonna scramble and extend a play…but will the game even be in reach to win without a great defense to help out greatly…thats one thing bens always benefited from here a great defense…thats a good thing to have…what happens when the defense is bad…that defense is getting older and showing sighs of wear and tear…itll be interesting to see what ben does with a horrible or just bad defensive unit…he could be looking at that possibility in the next couple years…time will tell shortly…
excuse me 11 guys
Francis: You are way too logical. That kind of logic just doesn’t fly in the ‘Burgh.
Roethlisberger is a gifted athlete who is generally regarded as being among the league’s top-10 quarterbacks, which is perfectly understandable and acceptable. But to rank him among the top three in the league, that’s absurd.
I can only recall one game during Roethlisberger’s seven-year career in which he absolutely carried his defense: A 37-36 shootout against the Packers in 2009. Roethlisberger threw for over 500 yards, and he was magnificent.
But what rendered that remarkable performance so meaningless was that just the week before,Roethlisberger and his offense had produced just two field goals in a 13-6 loss to the 1-11 Browns.
That inexcuseable settback virtually ended the 2009 season and cost the defending Super Bowl champs a playoff berth.Even though Roethlisberger had been dazzling against the Packers, it meant nothing.
Elite quarterbacks are judged on how often they get their offenses into the end zone. It’s that simple.
Ben is a winner. He is a winner with the Steelers and he was a winner at Miami (OH). His final season at Miami, they only lost one game, won the MAC, won a Bowl and finished, I think, in the Top 10.
Colt McCoy and Tim Tebow were also labled as “winners” during their college football careers. But how are they doing now?
I’m pretty sure both McCoy and Tebow would relish the opportunity to be re-drafted, only next time selected by a winning organization that just might increase their chances of extending their winning reputations.
I was absolutely shocked to hear that the Steelers recently spent more than a $100 million on two defensive players, Woodley and Timmons. I mean, isn’t having the Great Big Ben Roethlisberger enough to insure victory upon victory?
Maybe not.
If you told Mike Tomlin he had this choice on the day before a Super Bowl: Play Roethlisberger and bench Timmons and Woodley or play Timmons and Woodley and bench Roethlisberger, which would he choose?
If you are suggesting a defense, especially in Pittsburgh, isn’t needed to win, then you haven’t been paying attention.
I have no idea which scenario Tomlin might choose, but me personally, I’d gladly take my chances with Leftwich or Batch at quarterback … as long as my No. 1-ranked defense was at full strength.
What’s the worst that could happen? Leftwich or Batch might throw a pick six? Leftwich or Batch might produce the lowest passer rating in Super Bowl history? Leftwich or Batch might struggle for 59 minutes against the worst defensive team in Super Bowl history?
Had Roethlisberger been dominating in any of the three Super Bowls in which he has played, I’d pick him without a doubt. But that simply has never been the case.
Even in Super Bowl 45, he still wasn’t Bradshaw-like even though both Woodson and Shields, the Packers two best DBs, left the game with injuries. Roethlisberger had his chances in the game’s final minutes, yet he produced only one first down. Had Roethlisberger been able to pull that game out, trust me, I’d be singing his praises.
I’m still waiting for the return of the Big Ben we saw in the 2005 postseason. Unfortunately, that Big Ben no longer exists.
Good answer and I don’t disagree with you but I’ll bet Tomlin would take his starting QB. Coaches usually refuse to answer hypothetical questons but I’d love to put that one to him. He would probably dance around it.
Since it is an unproveable, hypothetical question, I actually believe Tomlin would give the people and the media the answer they most want to hear.
Tomlin, after all, knows he’s employed by a league that’s quarterback-obssessed, so he would not hesitate to say the politically correct thing..
I do, however, give Tomlin a lot of credit for showing his honest anger toward the media last season, when they bombarded him with endless questions about not having Roethlisberger to start the season.
An annoyed Tomlin repeatedly made it clear that the Steelers are a team that’s comprised of more than just one guy. Too bad no one believed him.
Goofy Ron Cook spun the situation into a crusade, saying and writing repeatedly that the Steelers were digging deep within their souls to win only because they had their bannished quarterback’s back and to give their beloved Big Ben a chance to win them yet another Super Bowl.
Laughable propaganda.
The Steelers won without Roethlisberger for one reason and one reason only: Because they can.
I actually think that he would start Ben and sit the other two.
I agree.
Ben runs the team, or at least he runs the offense.
Which is another sad commentary on Tomlin’s inability to take control of a team that’s severly lacking in discipline … both on and off the field.
Didn’t they have off the field problems with Cowher as well?
It’s a generational thing. Look at some of the former Steelers from the 70s and compare them to the guys in the NFL now. One of Noll’s former players ran for governor. Tony Dungy is a Noll disciple who became the most respected PERSON in the NFL not to mention a Super Bowl winning coach. There are many, many more examples. Noll did have Ernie Holmes, though.,
They won without Ben, but the one game they needed to win without Ben was Baltimore and they didn’t do it in a loss to Baltimore at home. Divisional games are much more important than an away game at Tennessee.
The job of a back up QB is to come in and make sure the ship doesn’t sink for 3-4 weeks. If a back-up has to play any longer than 3-4 weeks, they tend to fall apart, which is why they are back-ups. The Steelers back-ups did their job and then turned it over to the guy who carried it the rest of the season.
Sorry if you can’t tell the difference between Roethlisberger’s accomplishments and McCoy’s and Tebow’s.
Mike V.: We seem to go ’round and ’round on this subject but without anything new ever being said.
You have a bromance on the quarterback.
Good for you.
I happen to watch with my head and not my heart.
Good for me.
If you think playing quarterback at either Texas or Flordia is on even par with playing quarterback at Miami of Ohio, wonderful.
Finally: When Roethlisberger took over the offense last season, it was the 10th-ranked scoring offense in the league. Soon thereafter, Roethlisberger quarterbacked that same offense to a No. 17.ranking, before finishing the season at No. 12.. Put that Roethlisberger-led offense with 28 other defenses, and your beloved Big Ben wouldn’t be the winner that you think he is.
I realize you are the only one on this blog entitled to an opinion. I get that. You have things all figured out, while the rest of us just sorta remain in the dark…
Good for you….
Stay well.
They were the tenth ranked offense because they scored 38 against Tampa. They only scored 15, 19 and 14 respectively against ATL, Tenn and Balt. Don’t chanllenge my ability to eveluate numbers.
As far as a bromance, I don’t really know what that means. There are lots of times when he was terrible and off the field behaved like an a-hole. I just don’t hate the guy and spend my life resenting him because the Pittsburgh media has some guys in it who stay stupid things.
Two words perfectly illustrate why Ben is underrated: Fantasy Football
How could Big Ben be better than St. Aaron Rodgers, who singlehandedly won the Super Bowl???
Wow! That was an incredible performance by Mr. Rodgers in the super bowl.I mean the way he pass blocked Harrison while scrambling in the pocket and picking up the blitzing safety with a chop block, all the while pump faking to his wide outs before threading the needle on those 40 yd. passes, which he then ran down field and battled Ike Taylor to get into position to catch, and then breaking two tackles on his way to pay dirt! A truly amazing performance!
Almost as amzing as Roethlisberger being credited with having won TWO Super Bowls all by himself. Roethlisberger was so awesome in Super Bowl 40, he won that game with the lowest passer rating in Super Bowl history.
Oh, he’s good.
I can’t think of a single person who actually says Ben won two SBs on his own. I think your dislike of him causes you to say crazy things.
Guess what? I actually don’t care what you think.
Obviously you don’t listen to the radio or read newspapers, which is probably your biggest problem. Pretty difficult to be the know-it-all that you think you are without being aware of what’s being said or written about the team.
Thanks. You’re right. I don’t listen to the radio or read the newspapers. I’m smart enough about football to build a thought process about him without them.
I still don’t understand why you hate him because the media in Pittsburgh has a bunch of stupid guys in it. Seems like a waste of energy to me.
He’s no worse than third. He’s ahead of Manning and it can be argued that since he’s won nothing since they got caught he’s ahead of Brady as well.
Ben and Rodgers are clearly the best two young QBs in the game.
And for another poster to say the Browns game in zero degree weather cost them a playoff spot, while ignoring the shit performance of the defense a mere 4 days earlier against ONE OF THE WORST OFFENSES IN NFL HISTORY at the time is hilarious.
Without Ben this team still has 4 Super Bowl titles, and one AFC title since 1980.
Enjoy him while he’s here. Players like him don’t come around that often.
The Steelers from post-Bradshaw to pre-Roethlisberger are living proof.
Blaming the tempertures?
That’s a new low … even for all you Roethlisberger Apologists/Obsessives… Must have been warmer on the Browns’ side of the field that evening… Yeah, that’s the ticket!!!
If it makes your Steelers experience more enjoyable to pretend that Roethlisberger is an elite quarterback, terrific. Enjoy!!!
…sowhow this got into a debate about ben in superbowls and his performance or lack of…by bens own words hes repeatedly said in 40 they won in spite of him…id give him a D MINUS IN THAT GAME…IN 43 his best by far he had the drive to win the game…id give him a C MINUS or C PLUS in that game (I STILL SAY TO THIS DAY IF THAT WAS BRADY OR MANNING WHO DROVE THEIR TEAM TO A TITLE LATE IN THAT GAME THEYD GOT THE MVP)…as for 45 ben was sloppy allday…id give him a D PLUS in that game…hes just not a dominater in the superbowls…his 05 postseason run to 40 was awesome…but that was some time ago…starting to wonder if maybe this kids best days are now behind him…
The way to beat him is keep him in the pocket. If teams figure out a way to do that consistently, he’ll be just another QB.
Francis: Against the Cardinals’ defense in Super Bowl 43, a quarterback and his offense on top of their game would have scored 40 or more points. The Cardinals’ defense allowed a whopping 49 touchdowns in the 2008 regular season.
Before that game-winning drive, against the Cardinals’ prevent defense, Roethlisberger and company managed a whole 13 points. Elite quarterbacks put those kind of defenses away …. before halftimes.
Hes had a rough time in the Super Bowl games but at least he got them there. 3 times. Will he ever be top notch QB? Who cares? Hes a proven winner -period. A 10-3 postseason record isn’t obtained by accident. Bobzilla – we don’t need to apologize for anything, he already has the bling. Why do you keep apologizing for a defense that keeps getting smoked for huge chunks of yardage through the air?