Should Roethlisberger play Monday Night??

I know, I know some of you are saying what a dumb question BUT if he goes down how many here will state that Tomlin should be fired for playing him and Dan Rooney should personally hang Bruce Arians for this and blah, blah, blah. If Ben has a horrible game due to limited mobility will there be any complaints for him even playing in this game. What I’m really trying to say is…….. Who thinks he should play or rest? I think he makes enough money to play personally.
-slick

 

Re: Should Rothlisberger play Monday Night??

I say play him. Charlie Batch is nothing but a glorified ball hander offer anymore. Will Sanders be healthy by then?

 

Re: Should Rothlisberger play Monday Night??

I couldn't say one way or the other. It really depends on the trainers.

of course I want him to play, and if I had a crystal ball to see if he won't irritate the injury, but not if the lingering effects will last past this season. This is a doctor call. I think Pouncy ankle is still lingering from last year.

I'm not sure we have it this season against Green Bay unless we are 100% healthy which we are not.

 

Re: Should Rothlisberger play Monday Night??

Waaaaay too early to tell given there are 8 days between now and the game.

 

Re: Should Rothlisberger play Monday Night??

If Baltimore loses to SanDiego yes - if not ... i personally would lean towards no and just rest him until W17 in case we need him to make the WC

 

Re: Should Rothlisberger play Monday Night??

The team physicians need to evaluate him and blah blah blah. If he can go, he should and will go.

 

Re: Should Rothlisberger play Monday Night??

He is the more to the point question will he let Batch take his snaps with the first team offense. The answer is No. They will not gameplan for facing the NIners, Ben will see limited action during the week as far as practice but they absolutely wont cover their backsides by letting the back-up QB getting reps with the starting line-up. My guess is they won't even let Charlie get extra reps they will instead waste time on not going over a walk through and letting Ben find the best throwing motion he can and have the TE and WR practice running made up routes that allow Ben to get them the ball with out stressing his ankle. They won't install any running formations that limit his motion on hand offs such as I don't know putting both RB's right beside him to take a quick hand off or fake it and throw all in one motion to Brown or Wallace on a quick slant. Nope in my opinion Ben will keep the drama alive all week and they will never practice a just in case scenario.

 

Re: Should Rothlisberger play Monday Night??

Really? If Baltimore wins against their last true test (most likely) of the season, what is the positive strategy of staying pace with their record if they have the tie break on us AND risk tearing the muscle more?

Who knows how that would exacerbate his situation and the rest of the season. Even if we lose with him out and resting it up, I think we make the playoffs. Odds of us surpassing the ravens if they win at this point seem far less than Ben getting his leg more screwed up after a whole game behind this weak ass offensive line.

 

Re: Should Rothlisberger play Monday Night??

I think the Bengals will be a test for them in week #17 also

 

Re: Should Rothlisberger play Monday Night??

But, can he beat off defenders?

 

Re: Should Rothlisberger play Monday Night??

The question that the Steelers will be asking him and evaluating him
all week will be his ability to defend himself. Meaning will he be able to get away from a pass rush if he has to? This will determine if he will play Monday night. He is one tough hombre
but no use in getting him hurt more for the playoffs if he can't go.CB and Double D can get it done.

 

Re: Should Rothlisberger play Monday Night??

I'm sorry but that was funny right "der".

 

Re: Should Rothlisberger play Monday Night??

A loss by Baltimore on Sunday would make me lean toward giving the Steelers their best chance to win on Monday night - and that is with Roethlisberger under center. A Baltimore win makes the division title nearly impossible, so that would make me lean toward giving Big Ben the extra week to heal. The Steelers do have the advantage of being the last team to play next weekend, so they can make their decisions accordingly.

 

Re: Should Rothlisberger play Monday Night??

If the backup QBs can't win a game then they shouldn't be on the roster.

 

Re: Should Rothlisberger play Monday Night??

I'm interested in why you think this is the case. Yes, we know that Ben dominates the offense, and BA... well, is BA. But what you're describing here is the team willfully destroying itself.

Against your view:
- When Ben had a hurt foot before, we installed the pistol formation relatively easily
- When Ben was out, Batch ran the game pretty well as a game handler (remember his bomb to Wallace as well?)
- While not the most tactically astute gameplanners, we have shown signs this season of useful preparation (like the NE game)

I guess I can see what you're predicting happening, but don't tihnk it's likely - the last Steeler I remember "keeping the drama alive" was Pouncey, before the Superbowl.

 

Re: Should Rothlisberger play Monday Night??

Well said. I would have more faith in Leftwich at this point. It's a shame that Dixon's stock fell so far.

 

Re: Should Rothlisberger play Monday Night??

Agreed - BUT - if backup QBs gave you the best chance to win a game, they wouldn't be Backups. They would be starters. So, it goes both ways. Backups are there to fill in for those who can more capably handle the position - especially at quarterback. While I agree with Tomlin when he says, "The Standard is the Standard," I'm also not so naive to believe that anyone on the roster is a potential starter - giving the team the best opportunity to win a game - especially an important one.

I'm not saying that a backup can't win a game for a team. The question that I think the Steelers have to answer is how important it is to them to win the division and what reasonable chance they have of doing that. With the understanding that Roethlisberger gives you the best shot to win, they have the luxury of knowing 24 hours ahead of time how badly they need that win. If Baltimore wins, they may choose to go with Batch/Dixon because the chances of winning the division become more remote. Then, a win against San Francisco can be seen as a bonus and added pressure on Baltimore to win out. If Baltimore loses, then the chances of winning the division go up considerably, and they may choose to go with Ben because he gives them the best chance to win that particular game.

All of this assumes that the coaching staff is even on the fence about whether or not to start Roethlisberger. His medical condition may determine things one way or another without even considering anything. If he's still struggling to get to the line and drop back for a handoff, you cannot put him in harm's way with the potential to lose him for January football.

 

Re: Should Rothlisberger play Monday Night??

IT has nothing to do with Ben dominating the offense and everything to do with the type of competitor he is. He has already demonstrated this year that despite being hobbled and needing time to rest to recuperate that he doesn't take practice off or allow for the possibility of having his back-up run the first team offense in practice. They made the point on Thursday that Charlie just didnt have the reps with the starting offense so it was sloppy. I would agree they did install the pistol last year and I don't have the stats but while many liked the formation and what it did to limit the stress on Ben's foot, I don't recall them going to it overwhelmingly during the game and was put on the scrap heap short after.

The "drama" comment is not a slam at Ben but rather at the way this will be handled by the media. It is Monday, so after a weekend where they could have an early evaluation and something to compare with where he is at when the Steelers work week begins. They could then state right from the outset he is going to play period. Instead what will happen is that Ben will say well I feel good I wanna play we will see what the docs and Coach T have to say. Tomlin will be noncommittal saying basically the same thing, he wants to play we will see how he progresses blah blah blah. THe talking heads will spin this all week long with the will he suit up or won't he, a whole weeks news cycle about how Ben is holding up or in other words drama. The whole thing could be averted if they just said we are goign to rest Ben and let Charlie get comfortable during the week. If Ben is ready to go on friday then he will play. end of story no drama. Don't think it will happen though.

 

You just know it is going to take an army to keep Ben off the field as long as winning the division is still in play! As far as preparation, I believe they will give Charlie most of the reps this week and prepare as if he will start, just in case. I see Ben getting some reps at the end of the week to evaluate it and go from there. They have to get Charlie ready because even if Ben starts, it may only take one cheap shot to that leg for him to be playing the rest of the night. They also are going to have to dress Dixon this game and short another position. My prediction, Chargers beat Ravens Sunday Night and Ben put on ugly but heroic effort Monday night and Steelers win 17-13 to take over 1st place.

 

It won't even take a cheap shot. If he lines up under center and one of the linemen steps back and lands on his foot, it could be the end of the night for him.

 

It's one of the things that makes us so fortunate to have Ben as our starting quarterback. It takes an ARMY to make him sit. Honestly, I think that the medical staff will also have a say in this, but he'll certainly make it difficult not to play him. Thinking back to last year and the Cleveland Stains. Both Delhomme and Wallace got high ankle sprains early in the year. That forced McCoy to start (I think against the Steelers.). Neither of those two even THOUGHT of returning early from their injuries.

Your predection, SteelerSteve, is what I've been thinking of for the past month or so. San Diego is experiencing their typical end of the year surge. They'll be at home and they need to win out to have a shot. Further, Baltimore just cake-walked through week 14, so they may be resting on their heals. The Steelers will probably enter Monday night's game with the division championship and at least the #2 seed on the line. This makes a decision to sit Ben a very difficult one to make.

 

If we lose this game there will be so many more Anti-Arians threads on the board. We may have to put this guy in protective custody. :-( :-(

 

I don't think Ben should play...Steelers are going to get the Wild card, the chances of catching the RAvens is slim.

I'd be fine with a Charlie Batch who takes most of the snaps in practice. Batch and some Dixon combo could steal us a game.

I have a feeling that ankle injury felt a hell of a lot worse the day after, I bet Ben's mobility is really limited right now.

 

if we want to have a chance in playoff we need to rest all the banged up players ,troy woodley ben pouncey hood and sanders .

 

Re: Should Rothlisberger play Monday Night??

ahh you Beat me to it

I wanted to see Hines Ward get in there .. probably just hand offs tho

with Bens ankle injury I bet his thumb didn't hurt as much.. now he needs to injure something else to take the pain away from the ankle