Pittsburgh Sports, Opinion and Politics | Just Watch the Game Blog

I’ve had the sneaking suspicion all summer that Charlie Batch is the Steelers’ second best quarterback and mentioned it in a few places.

Any time his name was brought up, he was dismissed because of his inability to stay healthy.

He’s done a good job every time he’s been called on to start for the Steelers (they won three of the four games he started) and I’ve always been impressed by how smooth he is in practice.

He just throws a nice ball. Not a canon for an arm but accurate with a quick release and he’s good at gaining extra time by moving around in the pocket.

He made what I thought was the best throw last night and it was only 15 or 20 yards in the air.

He had to step up and to his left to avoid the rush. The running back had been in the flat but, when he saw Batch scramble, turned and headed up the sideline.

Batch anticipated that and led him with a perfect touch pass over the defender’s head right into the receiver’s hands, who was able to catch it in stride.

I don’t care if it came against the Broncos 12th string. It was a great bit of ad libbing  and a perfect example of his visions and poise. And a perfect throw.

Leftwich has a cannon for an arm, but I have serious doubts about him being able to play more than a game or two before he’s taken off the field feet first. He may not be as brittle as Batch, but Batch can at least get out of his own way.

Dennis Dixon is black and he wears number 10, but he’s no Kordell Stewart.

Not even close. Those comparisons need to stop.

He doesn’t run as well and he doesn’t throw as well as Stewart and he looked like a rookie last night–not a third year player.

If the Steelers make the decision to go with the two quarterbacks who give them their best chance to win their first four games, they have to go with Batch and Leftwich–in that order.

Some quick thoughts on Steelers-Giants:

-Byron Leftwich was the best of the three quarterbacks. I know he wasn’t playing against the first team defense, but the long TD pass to Wallace was a thing of beauty. That’s one thing–probably the only thing —that he does better than Roethlisberger. You may have noticed that Wallace had beaten his man when Roethlisberger underthrew him for an interception. Roethlisberger was out of the pocket and throwing from a more difficult position, but the long pass has always been his weakness. Leftwich also made another great throw to Randle El on a crossing route.

-Roethlisberger looked rusty–he hadn’t played in a game in seven months–but he still made some nice plays to make something out of nothing. He’s going to be just as rusty in October.

-Dennis Dixon showed that he can be a dangerous weapon. He throws a nice ball and can turn the corner on his scrambles.

-The first team defense had trouble stopping somebody named Rhett Bomar. Not a good sign.

-Troy Polamalu looked a step too slow.

Other than that, I can’t think of anything that stood out–good or bad.

I also realize that it’s an exhibition game.