Anybody miss Big Ben?

And what year was that?

 

I like You @Wardismvp , but You dump on Him , and He took us to 3 SBs.....yet You stick up for Pickett still.....that seems pretty funny. Pickett is not a pimple on Ben's a$$
Maybe if He had went to Pitt instead???

 

I miss having a functional offense. Hopefully that gets corrected this season.

 

Big Ben might be once in a lifetime....just be happy that it happened. No regrets!

Terry --> Ben.... 20 years.

 

STD, Ben was great his first 10 years, not so much his last 8 years. And they were loaded.
KFP is not and never will be the player that Ben was his first 10 years. I am a firm believer in that players
need to be put in a position to succeed. Pickett does not play for the Steelers anymore, so I really don't care what he does. I only care what the players on the PGH Steelers roster do.
I am probably one of the biggest homers on this board.

 

Good and bad memory for me. There were about 30 of us watching. Family and friends all diehards. We all stood up and formed a hand chain for that final drive. We all thought it was in the "cards" that Ben was going to have another Santonio Holmes moment.

 

I do agree with Ward about Ben taking the $$$$. Never a fan of Ben outside football but a hero for the joy he brought me. There are many players in the NFL that are more about me then team. Salary cap can be a ***** for some teams when a few players take a lot of the cap. Always loved Bettis for taking less to help team. I think he got a ring for it. I believe Brady did the same. And jerk sure made out.

 

But his statement is correct

 

The thing is, almost every player wants the biggest contract possible...Brady was an exception and for Bettis, it was only at the end of his career...So we can't blame Ben on that....And the only time his contract was bad was his last contract in 2019 and it was a huge part because he was not the same QB from that point

 

Many of the best seasons of the career of Ben was after his first 10 seasons...From 2014 to 2018 he had very good.I agree I preferred his backyard football style but he was still very good after that.Only the last 3 season was not good

 

Regular season he was good from '14-'18. Mediocre to below average in the playoffs. His best playoff game during that run was a loss to Manning/Denver.... Steelers lost Bell, AB that year to injury. Patriots would have wiped the floor with Steelers had Steelers won in Denver.... so it was moot anyway.

 

I knew it was likely to be like this after Ben was done. I lived through every game of the 80's Steelers.

 

Same here. The Malone and Brister years... while my friends' teams were winning Super Bowls: Bears, 49ers and Redskins

 

SAME HERE - lived it then too.

We knew what we had in Ben, esp. in his prime. the organization fell short, year after year.

now - rebuild. far away from a SB, far away from a playoff win, quite possibly.

 

I don't agree with this sentiment. Ben was a much better player the last 8 years than he was in his first 10. The team just didn't have the same level of success. He essentially went from an effective game manager early in his career to a stand out, top 5 QB in the best era for QB play in the history of the league. He was really only bettered by Brady, Peyton, Brees, and Rogers. There wasn't a guy in his era that competed with him otherwise. Just because the team didn't win it all, doesn't mean he wasn't a better player.

The fact that he didn't win it all shows why teams are SO eager to have a stud QB on a rookie deal. Because that is the simplest way to achieve success. The QB is the most expensive player on the roster and if you are getting elite play from someone that is on the lower end of the pay scale, you have a good shot at winning it all. Once you pay the QB, you have to make concessions on the roster elsewhere. Sometimes just the QB is good enough to win it all anyways (see Brady, Manning, Mahomes), but most of the time, they aren't. You have to draft/sign extremely well in that span to ensure that your team can stay competitive at the highest level. The second you start missing, the team is no longer a true contender and just a playoff team destined to get bounced early. I truly believe the SB isn't won simply by the players, but as a whole with the players, the coach, and the GM all being about the same level of important in that win.

 

it was Ben + Tomlin that was a problem.

 

As a Defensive guy I always thought the problem during the Killer B Bs time was lack of D.

 

it was , in part - I think I agree with you.

But Ben had it MADE for years with a great D. it was TIME to make it happen on offense. that offense should have been unstoppable for 2-3 years. But it wasn't. they struggled way too much, still needed heroic Ben comebacks way too much.

they never really became that #1 scoring machine, Ben never was TB or Manning or Brees, or Rodgers. Was always just a bit short. The D made Ben and Tomlin. So, yes - once the D stopped being a Top 5, then Ben and Tomlin struggled.

 

I missed Bradshaw until Ben came to town, and I'll miss Ben until we get another Franchise arm.... hopefully, we won't wait as long as we did for Ben

 

You are correct about Ben never being a Mahomes (the best Qb in the League), but He was almost always in the top 5. Hell let's look at Rodgers for example.....He has only won one SB in his career, and that was when He has a top3 Defense....., and Brady....it goes without saying......most of the SBs He won .....His D was either top 5, or the scoring D was top 5.....I don't really count Brees.....in it....outside of one year....what did He , and His HC do....besides put up lots of stats??? You need a good Defense....as Manning....in his last two SBs.....one the D wasn't all that and got beaten down by Seattle (one of the worst SB a$$ kickings I can remember), and the last one He won.....was all Defense. JMO, but You always need a great D. I believe even KC won mostly on D last year...., and they got the Best Qb IMO in the league

 

agreed, generally. Need a good D, not great. Ben had some good D's later, and they could not win.

He was always #3 or 4 QB in the AFC. We went to 1 AFCCG after 2010. I think that is correct? Very much under-performed ( as a TEAM) , for a myriad of reasons. Many reasons for sure. Left me unsatisfied as a fan, I am sure it did, you too? was too many playoff CHOKES.

 

You can win with a average defense but at some point the defense need to step up big at one point and in 2017 the steelers defense were unable to do this.....The 2008 steelers defense don't win the super bowl if the offense don't step up when it was the time....This is a team sports

 

You thought correctly

 

2017, they had PLENTY of talent on Defense to win. Yes, they lost Shazier. (that is the season, correct?)

But:

Hargrave, Heyward, Tuitt and Alualu on DLINE,+ others
Dupree, Harrison, V. Williams, Fort, others at LB
Decent DB's (not great, but enough)

they did not get it done.

too many excuses.

an organization of excuses for 15 years.


offense failed, with a good defense.

 

They had talent but this is what you do on the fields,who matter especially in big game and the defense was just atrocious....They deserve 90% of the blame for that loss with the coaching who had the head coach more focused on the pats