Originally Posted by
RuthlessBurgher
Tale of the tape:
QB's
Ben Roethlisberger
Charlie Batch
Dennis Dixon
vs.
Derek Anderson
Brady Quinn
Ken Dorsey
Our starter has a Super Bowl ring. Yours completed 56.5% of his passes and had 19 interceptions. Ours had 3 more TD passes than yours even though he threw 123 fewer passes. Passer rating 104.1 vs. 82.5. We have a veteran backup who has experience as a starter in this league. Your backup's only experience is on the set of EAS commercials. He is an experienced crotch-grabber, though. Our 3rd QB looks like he may have the potential to be a player in this league...some have compared him to a smarter and more accurate version of Vince Young. Your 3rd QB has been a washout in the pros...some have compared him to Gino Toretta.
Advantage: Steelers
RB's
Willie Parker
Rashard Mendenhall
Mewelde Moore
vs.
Jamal Lewis
Jason Wright
Jerome Harrison
We've got a Pro Bowl RB, a 1st round franchise RB, and a legit 3rd down RB. You've got 3 guys whose best years were 5 years ago (Lewis when he ran for 2000 yards as a Raven in 2003 and Wright and Harrison back when they were in college, since neither of them will ever amount to anything in the pro game)
Advantage: Steelers
WR's:
Hines Ward
Santonio Holmes
Limas Sweed
Nate Washington
vs.
Braylon Edwards
Donte Stallworth
Joe Jurevicius
Joshua Cribbs
Braylon emerged as a go-to WR last year...I will give you that. However, compare his first 2 seasons in the NFL with Santonio Holmes (93 catches vs. 101 catches, 1396 yards vs. 1766 yards, 15 yards per catch vs. 17.5 yards per catch, 9 TD's vs. 10 TD's) and Holmes beats him in every category. Look for Santonio to have a similar emergence in his 3rd year in the league. Opposite Holmes, we have Hines Ward starting, who holds pretty much every significant Steeler receiving record (passing 2 Hall of Famers along the way). You have Donte Stallworth starting who was deemed to be expendable by the Saints, Eagles, and Patriots 3 years in a row. As a 3rd WR, we have a young, athletic big target for Ben from the draft, while you have an old, not-very-athletic big WR who has been in the league for 11 years. And our 4th best WR has 64 catches for 1074 yards, 16.8 yards per catch, and 9 TD's over the past 2 seasons. Yours is a good kick returner, but he only caught the ball 3 times last year.
Advantage: Steelers
TE's:
Heath Miller
Matt Spaeth
vs.
Kellen Winslow
Martin Rucker
Your starting TE obviously has many more catches and yards than ours, but ours still has more than double the number of TD's as yours (18 vs. . Our TE is also a complete TE who blocks just as well as he catches. It is not a good sign for your "Soulja" TE that is a glorified big WR that he seems to need another knee surgery every offseason. We both have young TE's drafting the past 2 years as backup options.
Advantage: Push
O-line:
Marvel Smith
Chris Kemoeatu
Justin Hartwig
Kendall Simmons
Willie Colon
Max Starks
Sean Mahan
Trai Essex
Darnell Stapleton
Tony Hills
vs.
Joe Thomas
Eric Steinbach
Hank Fraley
Rex Hadnot
Kevin Shaffer
LeCharles Bentley
Ryan Tucker
Seth McKinney
Isaac Sowells
Clifford Louis
Alright, I'll give you offensive line. That's our weak link for sure, and one of your team's major strengths. Joe Thomas has the potential to be the premier LT in the league for the next decade, and having Steinbach lining up next to him only strengthens that possibility. Hopefully Ben's new weapons will help mask some of our deficiencies up front. Expected improvement at C and greater health at LT would go a long way to making our line better, though.
Advantage: Browns
D-line:
Aaron Smith
Casey Hampton
Brett Keisel
Travis Kirschke
Chris Hoke
Ryan McBean
vs.
Corey Williams
Shaun Rogers
Robaire Smith
Shaun Smith
Ahtyba Rubin
Melila Purcell
Yeah, the two new guys should be an improvement over the ancient Ted Washington and Orpheus Roye, but the fact of the matter is that they are both 4-3 DT's who have to adjust to the 3-4 scheme. Hampton and Rogers were teammates in Texas, and there is no arguing that both are fat. But Hampton is fat and solid and dependable while Rogers is fat and lazy and inconsistent. Corey Williams is a promising up-and-comer, but Aaron Smith is already the prototypical 3-4 DE that all teams running the 3-4 are looking for. Keisel should improve since he can focus on being a full-time 3-4 DE this year instead of losing weight last offseason in anticipation for a possible "rover" role in the defense. Robaire is nothing but a journeyman d-lineman. Neither team has any significant depth here that is worth writing home about
Advantage: Steelers
LB's:
LaMarr Woodley
James Farrior
Larry Foote
James Harrison
Lawrence Timmons
Bruce Davis
vs.
Willie McGinest
Andra Davis
D'Qwell Jackson
Kamerion Wimbley
Antwaan Peek
Beau Bell
Our veteran inside guys are more solid than yours, and we have a Pro Bowler and an up-and-coming pass rusher on the outside, while you have a guy who may have been a Pro Bowler in the 90's and an up-and-coming pass rusher on the outside. Timmons and Davis provide young, athletic options as situational depth moreso than Peek and Bell.
Advantage: Steelers
Secondary:
Ike Taylor
Troy Polamalu
Ryan Clark
Deshea Townsend
Bryant McFadden
Anthony Smith
Tyrone Carter
William Gay
vs.
Eric Wright
Sean Jones
Brodney Pool
Brandon McDonald
Kenny Wright
Nick Sorensen
Mike Adams
Daven Holly
You have a couple of decent safeties, but neither of them has the talent that Troy Polamalu brings to the table, and our defensive backfield should improve with the stability Ryan Clark brings when he returns to our starting lineup next season. Ike Taylor, even though he can't catch a cold, is still better than any of the corners you have by far. We also have wiley veteran Deshea Townsend with Bryant McFadden challenging him for his starting spot and William Gay with one more year under his belt to progress as a CB in nickel/dime situations. Meanwhile, you traded away a starting corner and a 3rd round pick for a tub of lard that will never be selfless enough to take on double-teams while still being gap-sound and allowing the linebackers behind him to take all of the credit and glory.
Advantage: Steelers
Special Teams:
Jeff Reed
Daniel Sepulveda
Mewelde Moore
vs.
Phil Dawson
Dave Zastudil
Joshua Cribbs
Even though the addition of Moore should give us a boost in the return game over the poor showings we've had there in the past couple of years, I realize that he is not as dynamic a return man as Cribbs by any stretch of the imagination. However, our rookie punter had a better gross and net punting average with twice as many punts downed inside the 20 (28 vs. 14) and half as many touchbacks (2 vs. 4) as your veteran punter. Plus our kicker had only 2 misses last year (a 65 yard attempt that would have set the all-time record if it was made, and an even tougher 45 yarder that was attempted in the infamous swamp game against Miami...which he ultimately made up for with a game winning 24 yarder at the end of the game). Meanwhile, your kicker missed kicks in the 20-29, 30-39, 40-49, and 50+ ranges last year, plus he missed an extra point (Reed didn't have any PAT misses either). Your advantage in the return game gets cancelled out by our advantage with the kicking specialists.
Advantage: Push
Survey Says: Steelers get 6, Browns get 1, and we are tied 2 times.
Good luck fighting with the Bengals and Ravens for second place in the division.
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