Steeler Mafia
01-25-2011, 12:20 PM
Why is it that I have a strong desire to drive up to Boston and kick this biased @ss clown in the teeth? What a douche!
Steelers QB rates negative view
By Gerry Callahan
Tuesday, January 25, 2011 - Updated 3 hours ago
Boston Herald General Sports Columnist
It’s up to the Green Bay Packers now, our Packers, America’s team. They are the last best hope for good and decent football fans everywhere. Aaron Rodgers, Clay Matthews and the rest of the Pack are all that stand between Ben Roethlisberger and his nauseating return to polite society.
It seems to be a familiar question when Roethlisberger is in the room, but we must ask again: Could someone please stop this man?
The New York Jets [team stats] certainly slowed Roethlisberger down in the AFC Championship Game, but as usual the quarterback’s Pittsburgh Steelers teammates picked him up. Rashard Mendenhall rushed for 121 yards. The Steelers defense held the Jets to 1 yard rushing in the first half and stopped New York on first-and-goal from the 2 in the fourth quarter.
Roethlisberger was thoroughly outplayed by Mark Sanchez, who nearly lifted the Jets out of a 24-0 hole. Big Ben completed just 10 passes, threw two picks and covered up a botched snap in the end zone for a safety. Roethlisberger’s numbers look like something Sanchez would wipe on a teammate’s coat. His passer rating was 35.5, which was naturally downplayed by many critics and columnists who, when watching the Steelers, seem to think the most important thing a quarterback can do is extend plays.
And here I was, under the assumption that they were supposed to, you know, make plays.
Maybe someday Tom Brady [stats] will learn to extend plays. For now, Patriots [team stats] fans will just have to be content to watch him make plays, to drop back three or five steps and hit a receiver in stride. Did he do that against the Jets nine days ago? Of course not. At least not enough. But Brady certainly did more to help his team against the Jets than Roethlisberger did Sunday.
Here was how one scribe from SI.com described Roethlisberger’s performance: “This effort illustrated the entire palate of greatness Roethlisberger possesses .?.?. He improvised, extended plays and showed the will of a champion. Early Roethlisberger managed a run-oriented attack. Later, he picked apart maybe the best secondary in football.”
He did what? Now I admit I may have been distracted by the bartender in the Miller Lite man-thong commercial, but I saw most of this game. And just to be sure, I went back and checked: Roethlisberger completed three passes for 37 yards in the second half. He threw a pick and got sacked twice after halftime. He did enough to win, as he often does, but he picked apart nobody. He did not illustrate a palate of greatness, whatever that is. And he certainly didn’t deserve an “A,” which is the grade John P. Lopez awarded him on SI.com.
Not an “A-minus,” an “A” — for the guy with the 35.5 rating.
This is, of course, is only the beginning. The two-week deification of Roethlisberger begins. It’s been less than a year since he plied a group of college girls with alcohol and allegedly had his way with one of them in the bathroom while his stooge cop friend stood guard. Now Roethlisberger kneels and prays on the field after games. Now there is hardly a reminder of the behavior that got him bounced from the league for six games (later reduced to four).
Roethlisberger was asked after Sunday’s win if he ever thinks about what he did in Milledgeville, Ga., last March, and he cut off the questioner.
“I don’t,” Roethlisberger said. “I don’t. I’ll stop you now. Not at all.”
It will be interesting to see how Roethlisberger reacts when he arrives in Dallas and receives a daily dose of Milledgeville questions, but here’s a Super Bowl prediction for you: Somehow it will be easier for Roethlisberger to put his troubles behind him than it would have been for Michael Vick or even Brett Favre. By gameday, Roethlisberger’s story will be one of redemption and recovery, of a lost soul who is now found.
And of course, now that he is a good Christian man, he is an even better quarterback. The moment the Steelers knocked off the Jets, the mythology began to spread. If Roethlisberger wins this Super Bowl, he ties Brady with three, so move over, Tom. Step back, Peyton. Big Ben just muscled his way into the conversation for best quarterback in the game.
Which is, of course, ridiculous. Roethlisberger is a good quarterback, maybe even very good, but he isn’t Brady or Manning or even Rodgers. He is a one-time Pro Bowler. He has two Super Bowl rings, but no MVPs. In his Super Bowls, he has one touchdown pass, three picks and a 64.1 rating. In the Steelers’ win over the Seattle Seahawks in 2006, Roethlisberger literally had the worst game a winning QB has ever had in a Super Bowl (22.6 rating).
Roethlisberger is strong and mobile and he knows how to not screw it up. But you know what he really has over Brady? A better defense, better running game and better receivers. There’s your palate of greatness. The Steelers went 3-1 with Charlie Batch at QB. Put Brady on that team and the Steelers are not only in the Super Bowl, they are 10-point favorites.
At the moment, Roethlisberger’s Steelers are 3-point underdogs, and all we can say is: Go Pack. Someone has to stop this man. Ben Roethlisberger has had his way for too long.
Steelers QB rates negative view
By Gerry Callahan
Tuesday, January 25, 2011 - Updated 3 hours ago
Boston Herald General Sports Columnist
It’s up to the Green Bay Packers now, our Packers, America’s team. They are the last best hope for good and decent football fans everywhere. Aaron Rodgers, Clay Matthews and the rest of the Pack are all that stand between Ben Roethlisberger and his nauseating return to polite society.
It seems to be a familiar question when Roethlisberger is in the room, but we must ask again: Could someone please stop this man?
The New York Jets [team stats] certainly slowed Roethlisberger down in the AFC Championship Game, but as usual the quarterback’s Pittsburgh Steelers teammates picked him up. Rashard Mendenhall rushed for 121 yards. The Steelers defense held the Jets to 1 yard rushing in the first half and stopped New York on first-and-goal from the 2 in the fourth quarter.
Roethlisberger was thoroughly outplayed by Mark Sanchez, who nearly lifted the Jets out of a 24-0 hole. Big Ben completed just 10 passes, threw two picks and covered up a botched snap in the end zone for a safety. Roethlisberger’s numbers look like something Sanchez would wipe on a teammate’s coat. His passer rating was 35.5, which was naturally downplayed by many critics and columnists who, when watching the Steelers, seem to think the most important thing a quarterback can do is extend plays.
And here I was, under the assumption that they were supposed to, you know, make plays.
Maybe someday Tom Brady [stats] will learn to extend plays. For now, Patriots [team stats] fans will just have to be content to watch him make plays, to drop back three or five steps and hit a receiver in stride. Did he do that against the Jets nine days ago? Of course not. At least not enough. But Brady certainly did more to help his team against the Jets than Roethlisberger did Sunday.
Here was how one scribe from SI.com described Roethlisberger’s performance: “This effort illustrated the entire palate of greatness Roethlisberger possesses .?.?. He improvised, extended plays and showed the will of a champion. Early Roethlisberger managed a run-oriented attack. Later, he picked apart maybe the best secondary in football.”
He did what? Now I admit I may have been distracted by the bartender in the Miller Lite man-thong commercial, but I saw most of this game. And just to be sure, I went back and checked: Roethlisberger completed three passes for 37 yards in the second half. He threw a pick and got sacked twice after halftime. He did enough to win, as he often does, but he picked apart nobody. He did not illustrate a palate of greatness, whatever that is. And he certainly didn’t deserve an “A,” which is the grade John P. Lopez awarded him on SI.com.
Not an “A-minus,” an “A” — for the guy with the 35.5 rating.
This is, of course, is only the beginning. The two-week deification of Roethlisberger begins. It’s been less than a year since he plied a group of college girls with alcohol and allegedly had his way with one of them in the bathroom while his stooge cop friend stood guard. Now Roethlisberger kneels and prays on the field after games. Now there is hardly a reminder of the behavior that got him bounced from the league for six games (later reduced to four).
Roethlisberger was asked after Sunday’s win if he ever thinks about what he did in Milledgeville, Ga., last March, and he cut off the questioner.
“I don’t,” Roethlisberger said. “I don’t. I’ll stop you now. Not at all.”
It will be interesting to see how Roethlisberger reacts when he arrives in Dallas and receives a daily dose of Milledgeville questions, but here’s a Super Bowl prediction for you: Somehow it will be easier for Roethlisberger to put his troubles behind him than it would have been for Michael Vick or even Brett Favre. By gameday, Roethlisberger’s story will be one of redemption and recovery, of a lost soul who is now found.
And of course, now that he is a good Christian man, he is an even better quarterback. The moment the Steelers knocked off the Jets, the mythology began to spread. If Roethlisberger wins this Super Bowl, he ties Brady with three, so move over, Tom. Step back, Peyton. Big Ben just muscled his way into the conversation for best quarterback in the game.
Which is, of course, ridiculous. Roethlisberger is a good quarterback, maybe even very good, but he isn’t Brady or Manning or even Rodgers. He is a one-time Pro Bowler. He has two Super Bowl rings, but no MVPs. In his Super Bowls, he has one touchdown pass, three picks and a 64.1 rating. In the Steelers’ win over the Seattle Seahawks in 2006, Roethlisberger literally had the worst game a winning QB has ever had in a Super Bowl (22.6 rating).
Roethlisberger is strong and mobile and he knows how to not screw it up. But you know what he really has over Brady? A better defense, better running game and better receivers. There’s your palate of greatness. The Steelers went 3-1 with Charlie Batch at QB. Put Brady on that team and the Steelers are not only in the Super Bowl, they are 10-point favorites.
At the moment, Roethlisberger’s Steelers are 3-point underdogs, and all we can say is: Go Pack. Someone has to stop this man. Ben Roethlisberger has had his way for too long.