Originally Posted by
HeHateMe
Originally Posted by
RuthlessBurgher
Originally Posted by
HeHateMe
Thanks for establishing that my stats were CORRECT. I asked you to show me WHEN Montanas D led the league. You couldnt. Telling. I asked you to show me WHEN Montanas offense led the league in rushing. YOU COULDNT. TELLING. You CONFIRMED what I said in that the Steelers led the league in Defense in 08 (The year Ben had TWENTY THREE TURNOVERS). We also, LED the league in Ben's rookie season (04-05) and as you pointed out were top FIVE the SB season. AGAIN, Montana was the PRIMARY reason that the 9ers were SB champs. BEN WAS NOT. For you to even ATTEMPT to compare ben with a GIANT like MONTANA is TELLING.
PROOF that the Steelers had one of the BEST running games in the league.
When Roethlisberger took over, running the ball "took a little bit of pressure off that position early," Whisenhunt said.
The return to what many might call "Steelers football" also paved the way for the 2005 run to the Super Bowl.
[url="http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/10084/1045463-66.stm#ixzz0mctghWsD"]http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/10084/10 ... z0mctghWsD[/url]
You claimed "Ben's running game LEAD THE LEAGUE IN RUSHING IN 05" which is false.
Ben certainly benefitted from excellent defense during his Super Bowl seasons (team ranked 1st and 4th in total defense in those 2 SB seasons) but so did Joe (team ranked 2nd, 3rd, 4th, and 10th in total defense in those 4 SB seasons). We were top 4 in total defense both times we won the Super Bowl with Ben, and the Niners were top 4 in total defense 3 out of the 4 times the Niners won the Super Bowl with him (and were still a top 10 defense the other season).
In terms of a running game, Ben had a top 5 rushing attack in his one Super Bowl season, and a below average rushing attack (23rd in the league) the other season. Joe had a top 3 rushing attack (2nd and 3rd in the league) in two of his 4 Super Bowl seasons, had a top 10 rushing attack in one season, and had a below average rushing attack (19th in the league) the other season.
The point I'm trying to make is that no quarterback (even the legendary Montana) wins a Super Bowl by himself. Joe Cool got just as much help from him rushing attack and defense as Ben did. The media portrays Montana as God's gift to quarterbacking and portrays Roethlisberger as just some loaf of a game manager whose role is to simply not screw things up when he is riding the coattails of a superior team. Neither is correct. Joe's Niners needed a run game and defense to be successful just like Ben, and Ben was able to put the team on his shoulders when the chips were down just like Joe. I respect the contributions of both players to their teams' victories.
His running game led the league in 04. My bad. He was 4th in 05. Whiz says it AIDED him. Who would know? Him or you or I? Joe Montanas teams BLEW out their opponents. He was very efficient. In 05 and especially 08 we WON ALOT OF CLOSE GAMES. Joe Montana was the PRIMARY reason the 9ers were great. THE PRIMARY. Ben is NOT. Big difference. Its funny that the WEST COAST OFFENSE is popular amongst the league and the DEFENSE they ran is not. Do you know why? It is because the OFFENSE is what made that team LEGENDARY. The DEFENSE is what has made the STEELERS LEGENDARY. Past and PRESENT. Our defense is the BIGGEST opstacle of ANY opponent. NOT BEN. Montana was the biggest opstacle for ANY defense. You will find NO purist who puts Ben on ANY even ground with Montana, NOT ONE. The only person that would say that is a BIASED Steeler fan. Joe is a Hall of Famer (BY his 7th season- THEN HE WENT ON TO WIN TWO MORE) BEN IS NOT. TELLING
You are correct that the Niners blew out many of their opponents in those Super Bowl years. And Montana was awfully impressive. I'm not disputing that. Joe was
THE MAN. He's a Pittsburgh-area guy...why would I want to put him down? I'm just saying that he also benefitted from a quality run game and defense as well.
In the 1984, 1988, and 1989 playoffs, the San Francisco defense allowed 10, 0, 16, 9, 3, 16, 13, 3, and 10 points. Montana did not have to score 21, 23, 38, 34, 28, 20, 41, 30, and 55 points to win those game (but he did anyway, which is certainly impressive). These teams were getting blown out and throwing the ball like crazy to try to catch up, and yet still could not score more than 16 points in any of these games. That's some good defense right there (Ronnie Lott did as much for the Niner defense in this seasons as Troy Polamalu does for the Steeler defense in Ben's championship seasons).
The only close game in the playoff during those 3 seasons was Super Bowl XXIII against Cincinnati (20-16). When a defense does not allow more than 16 points in the 9 games that constituted 3 runs to the Super Bowl, you could easily say that the defense was a primary reason for those titles.
In Ben's two runs to his titles, his defense allowed 17, 18, 17, 10, 24, 14, and 23 points in those games. The Steelers needed him to score 31, 21, 34, 21, 35, 23, and 27 points to win those games.
Again, this is not to say that Ben is a better QB than Montana (far from it). This is just acknowledging that Joe benefitted as much from his defense and running game as Ben did.
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