Nfl classic games, Steelers @ Giants on nfl network now

Just incase anyone wanted to see, BB's rookie year playing a good game, I think it's Polamalu's also

Just started the second half

 

I caught a little bit of that on Sunday. I knew it was from BBs 1st or 2nd season from some of the players in the game, but wasn't sure exactly which year.
I believe Troy was drafted one year before Ben so it wouldn't have been his rookie season. Did Troy start his rookie season?

 

I was at that game, if I recall correctly, and we were fortunate to pull that one out. I think Eli outplayed Ben in that game and it was high scoring.

 

That was Big Ben's rookie year. Troy was drafted in 2003, the Steelers went 6-10 (2003) that year, Ben was drafted in 2004 they went 15-1 that year. I even recall many fans saying that Troy was awful and would be a bust in 2003. Guess they were a little wrong.

 

Yep, I remember being on the forums back then. There were definitely a lot of doubts about Troy.

 

Still do. He makes some splash plays at the line, but his coverage skills have gone south. He used to at least be a good player in space that allowed him to recover and make a play, now he looks lost sometimes.

 

I recorded this from last week and finally got a chance to watch it.

Harrison wasn't a household name yet.

Willie Williams and Deshea Townsend was our starting corners. (don't ever hate on William Gay)

Aaron Smith was donimant.

I hope we get a fullback on the roster. Krieder was killing people with his blocks.

Randle El, Ward and Lee Mays were our wide receivers. (Wallace is not that vital)

 

its tough to watch ben make the same bad decisions now that he did his rookie year

 

Are you hating on Deshea Townsend??? He was the man! He wasn't great or a shutdown guy, but in my opinion he rescued us from the days of Washington, Scott, and all the other disappointments and team killers. He was a stud nickelback and turned into a solid starter. He helped us win for what, 10+ years?

I always say the thing holding us back from winning a Super Bowl through the 90s and early 2000s, maybe even more than QB play (well, except SB 30 -- that one's on the QB) was secondary play. It always dissolved in crunch time and could never step up to the level of our run D. It was 1st and 10, 2nd and 9, 3rd and 18, and then they get a 19 yard completion. That was the pattern. We couldn't compete against the top QBs in the playoffs. The players that broke the pattern (along with Dick LeBeau) were Polamalu, Chris Hope/Ryan Clark, Ike Taylor, and Deshea Townsend, who was a heavy contributor for a decade. Even McFadden was very helpful to us, although people don't like to admit it. Those guys did what the Steelers of the past couldn't.

Anyway, that rant is disproportionate to what you said, so sorry. But it sounded like you were suggesting Gay is better than Townsend, and if you were, I think you're really, really wrong.

I agree with you on the other stuff. I should point out Burress was a WR that year. He must have been hurt that game.

 

But the running game was much more decisive for us back then.