The Untouchable Big Ben

He's 21/14 TD/INT for the season. So, for every three touchdown passes he gives the ball away twice. This does not count the number of times the Steeler's have lost posession due to him fumbling the ball.

Let's look at the picks from the SF game: 1) "I should throw to Wallace while he's basically double covered. And I'll pretty much stare him all the way into the end zone."; 2) Throws too high and too hard to Miller who has to pull his impression of LeBron going for the alley-oop; 3) This was a total WTF-Bomb... The ball was going nowhere near Wallace and straight to the defender... Wallace had to try to position to be the defender. FAIL!

So far, since the SF game, I have read many posts about: Wallace isn't trying, Mendy runs discouraged, Woodley's out of shape and doesn't show up, Farrior is too slow, Timmons and Worilds are fail, Clark is a has-been, BA can't call a game to save his life (partially correct though), Tomlin is a terrible HC who should be pulling a Sam Kinison on the sidelines, Willie Gay is only a stop-gap, the O-Line is terrible (yeah, it kinda is though)... blah blah blah

And, yet, not once have I heard anyone be critical of Ben.

Ben has become a turnover machine. Also, he fails at delivering the long ball. Going all the way back to SBXLV he moreso over-or-underthrows these passes. Many times, these result in INTs. He routinely neglects checkdown passes to Mendy. Preferring, instead, to "extend the play" to see if he can get a 30-40 yd missed bomb attempt to Wallace. Mendy is dangerous on the checkdown as it often leaves him covered by one defender in the first 5-10 yards (and this is often a corner back).

This is not a call to bench, trade, or run Ben out of town.

This is just to even the blame playing field.

Because on these boards... It seems Ben is supposed to be untouchable.

But, guess what? He ain't.

 

As for the SF game, Ben was grossly unprepared. One day of practice does not lead to a successful game against a good defense. The one factor that separates "elite" QBs from the rest is the ability to read a defense and take advantage of the match-ups that are in your favor. Ben has never been great at this. Not terrible either, but he is more likely to create successful plays by extending the play and waiting for the secondary to break down. This is certainly a more risky way of playing QB, as it often leads to sacks and/or mistakes. (Turn Overs). The lack of practice snaps this week almost certainly was a big factor in his Four picks. (Actually the last one was probably more out of making a desperate throw with the clock winding down and down by three scores).

The rest of the season, I'm sure had other root causes that I'm not aware of. However, 9 of his 14 picks came in two games. That only leaves 5 picks in 12 other games. Not spectacular but at least very respectable.

I'm not making excuses, or saying that the loss to SF was not in large part to his play. I actually think in the case of the first Baltimore game and the SF game, the loss should be "blamed" more on him than anyone. But I don't think he is a poor QB overall. We are 10-4 in the best division in the NFL, not too shabby.

 

Ben has been playing bad on the road.

Ron Cook talks about it in article.


They are averaging 24.7 points at home and giving up 11.4. Roethlisberger has thrown 14 touchdown passes and 4 interceptions at home and been sacked 15 times. His passer rating is 107.1 at home.

They are averaging 16 points in away games and giving up 19.7. Roethlisberger has thrown 7 touchdown passes and 10 interceptions on the road and been sacked 23 times. His passer rating is 78.2 on the road.

Read more: http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/11355/11 ... z1hCApR6BQ

 

Ben sucks, they should just cut him.

 

rukus, believe it or not, you make some good points, but, to add to your comments, yes Ben does a lot of the things you talk about, but, it is not all his fault. It is his OC's fault. BA does not have a clue as to how to develop a game plan or a running game. He is the pass master!! Look at what has happened to the offense since he has been the OC, Ben has been sacked more times then any other QB in the league, over 300 times. He got rid of all the legit full backs that were on the team and starting using TE's as blockers. He changed the blocking scheme to a zone scheme from what it use to be, a one-on-one power philosophy of a run-oriented, physical, ball-control offense. He changed the whole philosophy of the organization that worked for years to this pass, pass, pass happy soft philosophy. Thats why Ben loves the guy because he lets Ben do what Ben wants to do, and thats throw the football. Thats why Ben and Cowher didn't get along because Cowher didn't allow him to just throw the football. If you recall, Ben only threw the ball 20-25 times a game but they ran the ball 35 to 40 times a game. And people, please stop giving me the excuse about it's a passing league now. Thats bull. BA never gives the running game a chance, he comes out throwing and continues to throw the football. You can tell that he doesn't work on the running game in practice because they are to busy pitching and catching the ball up and down the field.

So, Arians is not teaching and coaching Ben up. All he is doing is letting him throw the ball and doing little to no coaching. The sad thing about it is, Tomlin sits back and lets this stuff just happen. How else can you explain how the same stuff happens week end and week out.

There are so many examples of BA's BS until it is not even funny. We debate this topic every week about BA's gameplans, play calling, no adjustments, situational play calling, formations, pass patterns, player usage, and everything else but, if we took a pole, I bet there are more people against this guy then for him. Most of Steeler Nations wants him gone. You can debate his resume but, there is one thing for sure, the Steelers will never win another Super Bowl while BA is still the OC!!!!!

 

take out the first game and the last game and what are the stats....pretty dam good right??????????

 

Yeah, but those two games are the difference between #1 seed and #5 seed.

But, I do see your point.

Once again, the point here is that fans on this board are running other players into the ground, but never look at the fact that Ben plays just as much a role in team failure as anyone else.

Personally, I'm happy with the team. The good and the bad. It all comes together.

 

Ben has had a very up and down year, but hes also been pretty banged up for most of the year. not making any excuses for him, but he does play hurt and his oline gives him very little time to actually drop back and survey the field like most other top qbs get.

i will also say this about Ben getting a free pass from most fans. as a long time Steeler fan i remember the 25 year drought of no super bowl wins and the parade of horrible qb's this team put on the field. it is no accident or coincednece that the have been to the super bowl 3 times and won twice since Ben has been the starter. this team goes as far as Ben takes them.

the whoel arguement that they won that 1st super bowl because of the defense is lame. they had some pretty awesome defenses in the 80's and 90's and no rings to show for it. why, no qb that was good enough to lead them to a win. sure Doug Williams and Trent Dilfer won super bowls also, but those guys are nowhere near the same qb Ben is. Ben had a bad game in the super bowl against the Seahawks, but most people tend to forget that Ben carried that team from about week 14 and in those 3 road games in the playoffs.

dose Ben get a free pass? sure he does, but with 2 rings on his finger and helping to always have the Steelers as a contender he should get a free pass.

 

i guess the other 52 players on the team had nothing to do with those two rings? really, free pass? not!! ben has always been careless with the ball. he's not the greatest at reading defenses ( alot of the reason he plays the style he plays) like it or not everything that was said is true. would i trade him? of course not, but he's just a player and deserves as much of a butt chewing as the rest of them. i wouldn't trade most of them either.

 

Ben is inconsistent at best.

From my seat, his problem is and always has been his accuracy. He simply is not an accurate thrower. This covers all areas, just not crossing patterns. Anyone who misses and has missed Wallace deep as much as him is a clear indicator that he does not possess the touch the great QB's all possess.

Yes, he has won 2 SB's and all that, but he is still a long way from even being a top 5 QB to me. Put him on just about any other team without a top ranked defense and he spends most of the year either on IR or the bench.

Yea, he runs around and everyone loves the fact that he is hard to bring down, but give me Marino any day over Ben. I'd rather be accurate than hard to bring down.

Then because he holds on to the ball so long, he becomes injury prone. It is not always the offensive line that is at fault. They can only block for so long and many of Ben's sacks are due to his pump faking.

Look, he is still the QB and right now, he is better than 85 percent of the rest of the starters out there and given the fact that he does play with a very good defense, he should be able to muster the wins. Of course, one sees what happens when he gives the ball away. He becomes an even greater liability.

Given his current injury rate, he'll be lucky to last another 5 years.

rutan

 

IMHO, this post stinks!

 

Also, let's not forget. Ben is working with a very "young" group of WR's such as Brown, Wallace, Sanders, etc. A horrible OL and a medicore running back, a horrible OC that everybody seems to hate.

Let's not also forget where Ben Plays "Pittsburgh". He has the most pressure to perform for his fans than any other QB in the league.

Marino wouldn't break tackles, he would turtle. Marino had NO super bowl rings, Ben has two and counting. Marino, after a game looked tanned and fresh, Ben looks like a warrior with broken bones like his nose, fingers, feet, legs. Oh yeah, the weather in Miami is alot better than Pittsburgh.

Football is tough sport. Marino, Brady, Manning HOF's no doubt. But, for some reason I can't picture these guys wearing the Steelers jersey.

In Other words I would rather have a tough, smash mouth QB than an accurate passer playing for the Steelers...

 

i think the just of the thread is ben is not without his faults and could stand to improve in some areas of his game. it would help the rest of the team also. it seems like this year the whole team just can't seem to put together a few weeks of consistantly good football , from any of the players.

 

We might have a few of those INT's back if Wallace actually made an attempt to go for the ball. Yeah, there's a good and bad Ben. I grew up watching Bradshaw. He threw some spectacular TD's and threw quite a few head scratching INT's. Neither are/were Aaron Rodgers or Dan Marino in a technical sense but between them they have been part of 6 Super Bowl wins and at the end of the day that's the only stat that matters.

 

Every game this season it seems he throws an ill advice pass that is intercepted. It's like you can count on it. Even when we blew out the Bengals. When we played the chiefs, seattle, ravens, 49ers, browns. you name it. He seems like he makes at least one bone-head play a game. And one day that costly error will cost us dearly.

 

He lacks the mobility in the SF game. Bens game improves dramatically when he is able to be mobile. Injuries are keeping him from performing at his high level.

10-4 is a pretty good record. I just think as Steelers fans we are spoiled.

Could be worse. We could be living in Cleveland or Cinci

Bman

 

Short answer..
No, he is not perfect, or as good at reading defenses, throwing quick passes, etc. ...
He has heart, and finds ways to win..
Anyone remember that phrase from Cowher?
Obviously, when he is playing with a "high ankle sprain"(don`t know how that ankle wasn`t broke, when re-watching the hit)...
That takes away what he does best...
But would I rather have Rodgers, Brees, Manning, etc...
NOPE!
I do agree that Manning is the best in the league, at de-ciphering a defense, and adjusting plays at the line,
But if he was playing behind our line, and trying to make our OC`s plays work..
I don`t see it happening.
He could audible to whatever he wanted to,... but outta our plays... the ones he needs just aren`t there...
OK... I will call BS, on myself...
Other qb`s are better than Ben.
Period.
But not many...
And given what we have to work with from our "playbook"...
Ben just finds a way to get it done...
Isn`t that the botttom line?!?
As Hines Ward said...
"You can say whatever you want about a quarterback, but at the end of the day, all that really matters is wins and losses"..
And I would say that Ben has done a pretty good job on that front..,.
"Untouchable"?!
Certainly not...
He does hold the ball too long, I personally don`t like that he waits till the last second to hike the ball, so the defense knows when to charge...
Maybe because it takes him too long to read a defense, or because he wants to see what they do at the last second...
What I DO LIKE... is that he is a competitor, till every last bone in his body is broken...
He will absoluteley give it his all to win,
every single play of the game...
He will take chances/risks, that other qb`s with less faith in themselves, or their recievers, won`t take...
I agree, that I wish he would throw the ball away more often,
But I can`t count how many times he has made an awesome play happen, simply because he won`t give up, and might pitch an ugly shovel pass to a running back, when every other option has been shut down, or throws that one in a million pass, to Santonio at the end of the Superbowl against the Cards...
You can`t win, if you`re scared to take chances...
He is a gunslinger, like Farve, or Bradshaw, or any other successful qb to play the game!
Cerebral? No...
Dedicated, inspired, gutsy, fearless? Yep!
Better than anyone we`ve had since Terry?
Without a Doubt!!!!

 

I can respect everything stated in this post. However, I do give Ben a pass for this game (and yes, looking back he should not have played.) It was obvious throughout the game that Ben could not correctly plant and push off his ankle to make the throws, especially the longer/ deeper ones. I agree, this should have been taken into account by BA in creating a game plan. (He does that, right?)

Anyway, I felt when healthy (Besides the massacre which I witnessed first hand in the first game), he has played well and has been very accurate this year. When I saw Ben unable to push off against the Whiners in the first two series, I felt he probably should have come out. Not because of the interceptions, but because how high or wide his throws were. That is just my two cents....

 

Ben is the most important Steeler since the dynasty years, sorry Bussy, BUT
if your not capable of performing at a high level against a very good defense
why risk a further injury to yourself or to your team? The playoffs are just around
the corner, we need you to be your very best to get us where we want to go.
Mike Tomlin, made a bad decision letting you play, or maybe he didn't have that decision?
I don't know? I know you will have to carry us on your shoulders in the playoffs.

 

Ben has been playing bad but his supporting cast has alot to do with that.He has a "yes man" as an off. coord.,an oline that wont block consistently and are very injury prone,and an unorthodox starting rb.

 

Thank you. Someone who actually gets it.

 

It already did. It's called SBXLV. And if he doesn't tighten his game up, then it will happen again, at some point. I was talking to a friend of mine last night (also a Steelers fan) and we discussed that Ben can play error-free football. We discussed how he did that when they beat the Patriots. He seemed to really be on his "A" game, that day. And the effectiveness of the whole team, and the win, reflected that. However, the reverse is also true.

 

He must be keeping busy in the hotel on the road.

 

A lot of you are showing your young age or you old folks have lost your memory.

As far as I can see...and that goes back quite a ways.....nothins changed.

Heck don't yins remember?...There were seasons when the beloved Terry Bradshaw threw so many interceptions he was accused of being color blind.

Shoot, Terry was sack so many times I hated it when they played a team with green jersey cause I couldn't tell which one was our quarterback cause of the grass stains.

Oh sure...our quarterback got plenty of criticism back then, just like now but there wasn't a person within a hundred miles of the burgh that wasn't glad to have him...but yins know somethin...them were the good old days. Yes sir. A gallon of gas was only 35 cents, a bottle of pop was only a dime......and 4 Super Bowl rings was somthin to brag about.

I'm gettin old and my memory ain't quite what it used to be so help me out here you young folks.....Who was our Quarterback when we got the last 2 rings?...I can't remember.

 

Not that I don't agree with you, but you're missing my point, I think.

The point is: Why isn't this same kind of argument made for the other players that people on this board are calling to trade/bench/kill?