Re: Big Ben the 2nd best QB in the league today? LOL
 

The great thing about Ben is that he is the perfect fit for the Steelers and the philosophy we have. Remember that the Steelers were primarily a running team for years, and then they got far away from that during the brief Tommy Maddox era. Kevin Colbert wanted Big Ben as our next QB, because he allows you to strike a balance with a run-oriented approach and a passing game that moves the chains (as opposed to generating huge yards and touchdowns).

As such, it doesn't matter if he is the #2 or #20 overall QB in the league. Until he leaves the Steelers, he will have a similar role of orchestrating this balanced approach. He will never put up numbers like Brees, Manning, 2007 Brady or even Rivers in our offense.

So - I have no problem with the idea that Ben is just an "average" QB in the overall rankings. But - he has no peers when it comes to playing within our system. I literally would take him over any other QB in the league as the starting QB for the Steelers.

Re: Big Ben the 2nd best QB in the league today? LOL
 

Didn't he have Manning-like, Brees-like, Brady-like, etc. numbers in 2007?

Re: Big Ben the 2nd best QB in the league today? LOL
 

Rivers not top 5?

Re: Big Ben the 2nd best QB in the league today? LOL
 

He's up there, but who would you move out of the top 5?

Re: Big Ben the 2nd best QB in the league today? LOL
 

And that's something alot of people don't get.

He led them this year with a vastly inconsistent, and sometimes downright porous, oline and running game. Drove them to 1 OT win, and 5 comebacks in the last minutes. The D in Pitt gets all the press, but #7 was the difference in many games, including the biggest one last night.

That D has been good for eons, yet until Ben's arrival in Pitt, they had won nothing since 1980. He brought the "it" factor to the position where it had been lacking for a very long time (since the Bradshaw days to be exact).

Re: Big Ben the 2nd best QB in the league today? LOL
 

He might hit 3,500 yards and 30 TDs a couple of times over the years, but I just don't see him ever hitting these numbers consistently. The Steelers play their best when we get a lot of first downs and control time of possession. This style just doesn't equate to big passing numbers.

Re: Big Ben the 2nd best QB in the league today? LOL
 

In my opinion, Roethlisberger has earned his way into the present-day pantheon of elite quarterbacks, alongside Peyton Manning and Tom Brady. I don't know if Big Ben is as fundamentally sound as these two contemporaries of his, but he's a more rugged, powerful, and physical player than either Manning or Brady, and every bit the playmaker and winner.

Re: Big Ben the 2nd best QB in the league today? LOL
 

Ya - I have thought about this, and if we had a QB like Ben in the early 80s or even in the mid-90s, I think we might have won another Super Bowl or two. In the 80s we had mediocre guys like Cliff Stoudt and Mark Malone, and in the 90s, we had the Neil O'Donnell/Kordell Stewart fiasco.