Steelers & Fantasy Football

[NKySteeler]

Let me tell you about Athlon Magazine. In that magazine their is an article on the 2004 QB's. The author says that Ben was carried by his running game and defense enroute to a championship in 2005.

The Steelers averaged 2.9 yards per carry in the 2005 playoffs.

The Defense allowed 17.5 pts in 3 playoff games. not bad, but not actually steel curtain like either.

roethlisberger had the 2nd highest passer rating in road playoff history in that stretch.

hence, I will never buy that magazine. I always flip open to the steeler section and if they can't get that right, I can't trust the rest of the stuff.

I didn't care for that article either... But I think thier point was that part of Bens' success early in his career (first two seasons) was due to the team around him, and I really don't disagree to that extent... Yes, he's good. But he definitely had help around him when he started in the NFL.

[blacknblue80s]

I think the addition of Mendenhaul effects both Ben and Willie, although this place has Ben ranked #5. http://www.fftoolbox.com/football/2008/cheatsheets.cfm

IMO Holmes will be a top fantasy reciever.

I have no idea what they were thinking as far as our defense at #14...

[NorCal-Steeler]

Holmes and Ward both had duribility issus last year thats a huge part in their rankings i would assume.
The biggest reason why Steelers arn't ranked high is pure balance, we pass and run well.
where teams like the Pats only pass or with rb's guys like LT and Westbrook are 80% of the offense racking up recieving and running yrds.
I had Ward on my teams last year ,he was good for those 5 yrd slants in the red zone for scores but didnt rack up the yrs.

[Ozey74]

Let me tell you about Athlon Magazine. In that magazine their is an article on the 2004 QB's. The author says that Ben was carried by his running game and defense enroute to a championship in 2005.

The Steelers averaged 2.9 yards per carry in the 2005 playoffs.

The Defense allowed 17.5 pts in 3 playoff games. not bad, but not actually steel curtain like either.

roethlisberger had the 2nd highest passer rating in road playoff history in that stretch.

hence, I will never buy that magazine. I always flip open to the steeler section and if they can't get that right, I can't trust the rest of the stuff.

I didn't care for that article either... But I think thier point was that part of Bens' success early in his career (first two seasons) was due to the team around him

With all due repect, people act like Ben walked into taking over the AFC Pro Bowl squad. The Steelers were 6-10 the year before we drafted him & they were 1-1 before he took over full time. True, the team was unacheiving, but they were hardly well oiled machine when he took the reigns.

[NKySteeler]

With all due repect, people act like Ben walked into taking over the AFC Pro Bowl squad. The Steelers were 6-10 the year before we drafted him & they were 1-1 before he took over full time. True, the team was unacheiving, but they were hardly well oiled machine when he took the reigns.

Very true. But I just don't think it was a situation as bad as many other teams... What if he had been on the Az Cardinals and Warner went down?... I doubt he would have had that sort of record his rookie year, that's what I was getting at.

[Ozey74]

With all due repect, people act like Ben walked into taking over the AFC Pro Bowl squad. The Steelers were 6-10 the year before we drafted him & they were 1-1 before he took over full time. True, the team was unacheiving, but they were hardly well oiled machine when he took the reigns.

Very true. But I just don't think it was a situation as bad as many other teams... What if he had been on the Az Cardinals and Warner went down?... I doubt he would have had that sort of record his rookie year, that's what I was getting at.

I see your point. I wonder what would of happend had Eli or Rivers ended up on the Steelers? I feel we would of had the least success w/Manning. That could be my anti-Manning bias showing. IMO, what Ben pulled off was nothing short of amazing!!

[Mr Smartmonies]

With all due repect, people act like Ben walked into taking over the AFC Pro Bowl squad. The Steelers were 6-10 the year before we drafted him & they were 1-1 before he took over full time. True, the team was unacheiving, but they were hardly well oiled machine when he took the reigns.

Very true. But I just don't think it was a situation as bad as many other teams... What if he had been on the Az Cardinals and Warner went down?... I doubt he would have had that sort of record his rookie year, that's what I was getting at.

I see your point. I wonder what would of happend had Eli or Rivers ended up on the Steelers? I feel we would of had the least success w/Manning. That could be my anti-Manning bias showing. IMO, what Ben pulled off was nothing short of amazing!!

I posted this before somewhere. But your answer "to what would have happened if Eli was with the Steelers" is answered at the bottom.

Week 4 Oct 3 W 28-17 vs Cincinnati Bengals//pitt had lead at half
Week 5 Oct 10 W 34-23 vs Cleveland Browns// pitt lead at half 27 1st half pts!
Week 6 Oct 17 W 24-20 at Dallas Cowboys // roethlisberger goes 21 for 25 against Parcells
Week 7 Bye Week
Week 8 Oct 31 W 34-20 vs New England Patriots //Pitt had 24-10 lead at half, 17 1st half off pts
Week 9 Nov 7 W 27-3 vs Philadelphia Eagles //pitt lead at half 21 1st half pts!
Week 10 Nov 14 W 24-10 at Cleveland Browns // pitt lead 14-3 at half
Week 11 Nov 21 W 19-14 at Cincinnati Bengals // one of few game , they had no lead at half
Week 12 Nov 28 W 16-7 vs Washington Redskins // pitt leads 10-0 at half
Week 13 Dec 5 W 17-16 at Jacksonville Jaguars //pitt leads at half- game winning drive by roeth
Week 14 Dec 12 W 17-6 vs New York Jets // pitt small lead at half
Week 15 Dec 18 W 33-30 at New York Giants //pitt lead at half 20 1st half points!
Week 16 Dec 26 W 20-7 vs Baltimore Ravens //pitt lead at half

2004 bettis

rushing yards by QTR

1st 165
2nd 233
3rd 217
4th 326 Illustrates that the rushing yards were racked up after the pass got them the lead.


2004 Roethlisberger passer rating by QTr and amount of attempts

1st QTR 104% 76 pass attempts
2nd qtr 97% 91 pass attempts
3rd QTR 71% 63 pass attempts
4th QTR 118% 65 pass attempts

As you can see above, this ultra efficiecy in the 1st half enable the steelers to be
able to take leads in the 1sthalf and then run the ball in the 2nd half. You can even
see the drop in pass attempts from the first half to the 2nd half.

Why didn't this work the year before with Maddox? well as you can se below, Maddox was UNABLE to duplicate the ultra efficiency of Roethlisberger in the 1st QTR. Therefore Madox had to throw the ball more to make up for the incompletions. He also had to throw the bal more because roethlisberger nearly doubled up his yards per attempt avgover maddox avg in the 1st QTr. The difference between 6.5 yPa and 11.3 is an incredible difference.

2003 maddox

1st Qtr passer rating = 77
completion percentage = 56%
yards per attempt = 6.5

2004 roethlisberger

1st QTR passer rating = 104%
completion percentage = 67%
Yards per attempt = 11.3

2004 steelers passed early and did it so efficently that they rarely had to pass in the
2nd half. That's why they went 15-1. no other team could take a rookie QB and run the
ball as much as Pittsburgh did, cause their has never been a rookie QB average 8.9 yards
per attempt which is completely off the charts.

(Eli Manning career yards per attempt avg 6.3)

[Ozey74]

With all due repect, people act like Ben walked into taking over the AFC Pro Bowl squad. The Steelers were 6-10 the year before we drafted him & they were 1-1 before he took over full time. True, the team was unacheiving, but they were hardly well oiled machine when he took the reigns.

Very true. But I just don't think it was a situation as bad as many other teams... What if he had been on the Az Cardinals and Warner went down?... I doubt he would have had that sort of record his rookie year, that's what I was getting at.

I see your point. I wonder what would of happend had Eli or Rivers ended up on the Steelers? I feel we would of had the least success w/Manning. That could be my anti-Manning bias showing. IMO, what Ben pulled off was nothing short of amazing!!

I posted this before somewhere. But your answer "to what would have happened if Eli was with the Steelers" is answered at the bottom.

Week 4 Oct 3 W 28-17 vs Cincinnati Bengals//pitt had lead at half
Week 5 Oct 10 W 34-23 vs Cleveland Browns// pitt lead at half 27 1st half pts!
Week 6 Oct 17 W 24-20 at Dallas Cowboys // roethlisberger goes 21 for 25 against Parcells
Week 7 Bye Week
Week 8 Oct 31 W 34-20 vs New England Patriots //Pitt had 24-10 lead at half, 17 1st half off pts
Week 9 Nov 7 W 27-3 vs Philadelphia Eagles //pitt lead at half 21 1st half pts!
Week 10 Nov 14 W 24-10 at Cleveland Browns // pitt lead 14-3 at half
Week 11 Nov 21 W 19-14 at Cincinnati Bengals // one of few game , they had no lead at half
Week 12 Nov 28 W 16-7 vs Washington Redskins // pitt leads 10-0 at half
Week 13 Dec 5 W 17-16 at Jacksonville Jaguars //pitt leads at half- game winning drive by roeth
Week 14 Dec 12 W 17-6 vs New York Jets // pitt small lead at half
Week 15 Dec 18 W 33-30 at New York Giants //pitt lead at half 20 1st half points!
Week 16 Dec 26 W 20-7 vs Baltimore Ravens //pitt lead at half

2004 bettis

rushing yards by QTR

1st 165
2nd 233
3rd 217
4th 326 Illustrates that the rushing yards were racked up after the pass got them the lead.


2004 Roethlisberger passer rating by QTr and amount of attempts

1st QTR 104% 76 pass attempts
2nd qtr 97% 91 pass attempts
3rd QTR 71% 63 pass attempts
4th QTR 118% 65 pass attempts

As you can see above, this ultra efficiecy in the 1st half enable the steelers to be
able to take leads in the 1sthalf and then run the ball in the 2nd half. You can even
see the drop in pass attempts from the first half to the 2nd half.

Why didn't this work the year before with Maddox? well as you can se below, Maddox was UNABLE to duplicate the ultra efficiency of Roethlisberger in the 1st QTR. Therefore Madox had to throw the ball more to make up for the incompletions. He also had to throw the bal more because roethlisberger nearly doubled up his yards per attempt avgover maddox avg in the 1st QTr. The difference between 6.5 yPa and 11.3 is an incredible difference.

2003 maddox

1st Qtr passer rating = 77
completion percentage = 56%
yards per attempt = 6.5

2004 roethlisberger

1st QTR passer rating = 104%
completion percentage = 67%
Yards per attempt = 11.3

2004 steelers passed early and did it so efficently that they rarely had to pass in the
2nd half. That's why they went 15-1. no other team could take a rookie QB and run the
ball as much as Pittsburgh did, cause their has never been a rookie QB average 8.9 yards
per attempt which is completely off the charts.

(Eli Manning career yards per attempt avg 6.3)

Great info again!!

[SteelerNation1]

Quick question. Am I the only one who refuses to draft any AFCN players on their fantasy team? I cant bring myself to root for any other people in our division.

[NKySteeler]

Quick question. Am I the only one who refuses to draft any AFCN players on their fantasy team? I cant bring myself to root for any other people in our division.

Couldn't tell you.... I draft all Steelers.... Let me tell 'ya, the "bye" week sucks.....