Big Ben is on the decline

All those hits have taken a toll on him and he hasn't been the same since that hit against Kansas City last season. I can't remember the last time he led the team on a game winning drive like he used to do when he was young. Now at the end of the game he fumbles the ball away or takes a sack to knock the team out of field goal range and throws a bonehead interception to lose the game, like last season against the Bengals and Cowboys that cost the team a chance at the playoffs. And it continues this season with the turnovers against the Bears 4 turnovers are unacceptable, a lot of his throws have been inaccurate too high. One of the Pittsburgh sportswriters had a article about this recently. I know Ben gives the team the best chance to win but he needs to cut down on the turnovers or else I hope Landry Jones is ready to take over in a couple of years (sarcasm).

 

we all know ben is a big dummy
so
that gives us
two big dummy quarterbacks
that won the team super bowl rings and 6 DUMBardies
lets find our nenext big dummy
and get dumber seben

 

I agree with a lot of what you say here and to me it's a shame the Steelers let that happen to a franchise QB. Ben probably is beat up more that any Qb in the league and year in and year out the Steelers continue to let it happen. Yea he runs around a lot but still we have had offensive line problems for years and nothing seem to be done about it. I look at other QBs on other teams and see where the franchise QB is protected, letting him do his thing. Watching the game the other night where the team had two rookies on the right side of the line and they were playing like veterans, why can't the Steelers protect like that, maybe coaching or flawed, maybe it's bad drafting, I don't know but I do know this team has let our franchine QB down.

 

It's weird how that human beings naturally decline over time but pro athletes are expected to do the opposite while also still being human beings. That's a strange phenomena really. It would be interesting to see what Mike Wallace's .40 time will be when retires compared to what it was when he came in to the league. I think there are some that would expect it to be BETTER at the end of his career than at the first. LOL.

 

I was going to suggest a "Fire Tomlin" sub forum to you a couple weeks ago. Maybe a "Ben is done" sub forum would be nice too. That way we could clear out about 75% of the stuff in the Steelers talk forum.
Lol.

 

I think most people like me do not spend all day on this forum so me and they probably miss a lot of posts and do not go back and read most of them, so if I post something that has been run through the coals before, sorry.

 

Just like brown needs to step up right? You know 9 grabs two tds and 196 yards in a game sucks. Lmao

 

HEY STEEL
you know you gotta pay NUMBAH for infringements

PAY THE MAN!!!!!

 

Our skills decline when we get older????????? You mean I'm never going to look like Lou Ferrigno?
Of course Ben is declining, we all do. IMO, the problem with the line since Bettis retired is, the coaching staff can't decide to be a running team or a passing. It must confuse the blockers no end. Not to mention, most of these guys aren't good enough to sustain blocks.

 

That is truly debatable.... darrell green was among the fastest players in the league his entire career, and he played until he was 40..... look at what bret favre was able to do late in his career, or payton manning now.... steve smith is no spring chicken, but is still a game changer... jerome bettis played at a high level at a time when power backs were supposed to be declining due to the number of hits taken. . I think it all comes down to the shape you keep yourself in, and the way you apply your craft year after year... ben can still bring it, but the bottom line here will be his continued protection issues.. as it stands right now, none of the other elite qb's out there would be effective behind this o-line, and that one is on the coaches, gm, and the scouts

 

This is why anyone has to take this message board with a pound of salt.

 

Well if you look at Brett of later compared to Brett of earlier his arm definitely didn't have the strength to throw the frozen rope like he used to. They used to call Champ Bailey "the fastest man in the NFL" but I don't think they do that now. I think the reason Manning can do that is because he doesn't take the physical punishment that Ben does. I don't think Ben is on the decline as far as he's not an elite qb anymore but I think it's only natural that he's not going to be able to make the same kind of plays that he was making 5 years ago when we won the Super Bowl. It's hard to believe how long he's been in the league really. Super Bowl 40 seems like yesterday but it was 8 years ago. That's an ETERNITY in the NFL and ESPECIALLY for a guy that's taken the beating that Ben has.

 

I agree about the mgmt part too. Pro athletes of Ben's caliber are investments really and if someone came to me and told me to invest $100 million I would say "YOU BETTER GIVE ME SOME ASSURANCE THAT THIS IS A SECURE INVESTMENT" and surely my advisers would do that and if they didn't I would be telling them to take a hike. It seems that our scouts just flat out can not evaluate o-linemen and until they do Ben will never be secure. We often say that this team will only go as far as Ben takes us but it might be time to start saying we will only go as far as the line takes us. I've said it before and I will say it again. I wish the Rooney's would tell Tomlin to NEVER draft another linemen but to only take proven guys through FA. It's obvious at this point that we just can't evaluate linemen for whatever reason. Maybe others disagree but I just think the evidence is pretty solid that we can't pick good linemen and develop them.

 

Yeah I agree. I don't think he's on the decline either.

 

I dont think he is on the decline. I really think the Oline is just that bad and he has no weapons.

Ben is still a leader and makes clutch plays but you have to field a respectable offense in order to score points. Personally IMHO I think Ben should just play how he plays and nevermind what Haley tells him to do. It is time to take
back control of the offense. The time is now. There is a huge sense of urgency amongst the team and the fan base.

Bman

 

He is on the decline physically so he'd better be working on his game intellectually. I heard an interview with Russell Wilson earlier and I really wish Ben would take this approach to the game. Wilson said, and I paraphrase:

"My biggest fear is to go into a game unprepared. I want to know what the defense is going to be doing in certain situations. I want to work on plays inside the red zone and know what the defense's tendencies are in those situations. I want to feel confident if we have to make a 4th and 4. I want to make sure that I've spent enough time in the film room getting ready for the opponent."
--Russell Wilson (paraphrased)

Ben needs to take the Russell Wilson/Peyton Manning approach to game prep and if he does he won't have to be on the declining side of his career. I don't think Ben is too dumb to take this approach, I just think he may be a little lazy which has been brought on by his physical superiority. I've just never gotten the feeling that Ben has gone into a game truly prepared to strategically and methodically attack an opponent's vulnerabilities. He's just always managed to out-physical the other team and those days are coming to a close faster than any of us want to see.

 

The people that are around him are on the decline . That goes for every supporting or non supporting character on the team.

You have to surround yourself with great people in order to be great.

Bman

 

He's battered but he still fights. I have to give Ben credit, he has never really had a decent o-line. His whole career has been a make shift line and hes paid the price. But day in and day out he compliments them, gives them a lot of credit when the entire sports world says how terrible they are. Love when we won the superbowl against arizona and Ben holds up the Lombardi and says "who's laughing now o-line?".... Anyone remember Peyton throwing his o-line under the bus after we beat them in the 05' playoffs? Ben could easily blame the o-line for a lot, but he doesn't use that as a scapegoat. So of course Ben is in the decline, hes getting older but its hard to change his game when he still doesnt have much time to throw the ball. I don't think hes in such a decline that he's not good, he's still one of the best to do it right now if hes given a little time. Yes he has questionable turnovers but its not his calling card. He will be fine, and if we get a high pick maybe we will pick his successor who can sit behind Ben a few years and learn.

 

When you're winning in spite of a deficiency, it's easy to put a positive spin on things. It will be interesting to see how Ben reacts to his porous offensive line if the team goes 4-12 and he gets sacked 80 times. Buses, start your engines!

 

You do realize that Peyton made that comment after going 14-2 in the regular season and losing in the playoffs to the Steelers, right?

 

Oh I do. I'm just referring to our specific situation this year. Ben has always tried to put a positive spin on things even when he seemed disingenuous doing so. But losing and getting your butt handed to you every week by defensive linemen and linebackers that beat you to the pocket will cause you to say things that are out of character. Peyton has never been afraid to call a spade a spade, ie our idiot kicker, and that's worked well for him. Sometimes I'd like to see Ben be a little more candid.

 

LOL. Can you imagine the 'open letters' local media would get if he would do that?