Boomer E. just said it best.

[BURGH86STEEL]

Newsflash.....Batch and Byron suck. Anybody trying to come to their defense you might as well dip that turd in some chocolate and take a big bite. They both have the admirable back up QB qualities of immobility, fragility and advance old age. Next year we need to draft the heir apparent to Ben so the learning curve can begin.

Many first string QB's are horrible. Most 2nd and 3rd string QB's are horrible. Those are the facts.

Unless the Steelers draft a QB in the first round they ain't gonna find the air apparent to Ben in the later rounds of the draft. I don't think it's time to talk about replacing Ben.

[papillon]

It's not a crock and I wasn't attempting to sugar coat anything. Fans can know the facts and continue to ignore facts. Batch made some nice throws and not so nice throws. Sounds like what many would say about just about all 3rd string QB's around the league. It's the same thing that I would say about Jerrod Johnson based on his play in the preseason. Running QB's have a hard time winning games without the ability to consistently hurt defenses passing the football. Like Dennis Dixon had the ability to run when he was with the Steelers but couldn't make defense pay consistently enough in the passing game. Fact, most 2nd and 3rd string QB's in the league are horrible. Some teams value 3rd string QB's so much that they don't even carry one. Oh and the great Jerrod Johnson isn't even on an NFL roster. The situation is what it is. The best hope is that the team can limit mistakes and pull out close games until Ben can return.

This is about as accurate an assessment as there is right now. Had Leftwich not got hurt last week the Steelers win the game handily IMO. He couldn't make the throws because he was hurt, not because he's a bad quarterback.

Pappy

[Steelhere10]

I didn't prove your point. Jerrod Johnson isn't even in the NFL right now. But never mind.

The problem with fans is they always believe the next man up/cut was the answer. The reality is that 98% of the time the guy cut would be the same or worse then the guy the team decided to keep.

If they are running a vanilla offense for Batch, then what's the purpose of keeping him. At least have a 3rd string who can move and have arm strength. And if you are judging, Johnson out performed Batch and stiffy in the preseason.

[BURGH86STEEL]

If they are running a vanilla offense for Batch, then what's the purpose of keeping him. At least have a 3rd string who can move and have arm strength. And if you are judging, Johnson out performed Batch and stiffy in the preseason.

I don't know what kind of offense they ran with Batch. Regardless of the offense the coaches designed, the team is not going to win games giving the ball away regardless of who plays QB.

I don't know why the team kept Batch. Maybe it was because Johnson wasn't good enough? The FACT that Johnson is out of the league right now suggests he wasn't good enough at this point of his career. That may change in the future.

Most 2nd and 3rd string QB's in the league are horrible. It's odd that fans can watch the sport for years and not realize that most 2nd and 3rd string QB's are horrible.

[birtikidis]

I think that the problem with batch is that he's horrible because he's incapable. He was a good backup a few years ago bc he had a little left. He doesn't anymore. The point about Johnson, IMO, is that he CAN he just can't do it well. Most third string guys are young guys who just don't have a lot of something (talent, brains etc) but they have room to improve. Our third stringer can't improve his weakness. He can't get younger.

[Shoe]

This is about as accurate an assessment as there is right now. Had Leftwich not got hurt last week the Steelers win the game handily IMO. He couldn't make the throws because he was hurt, not because he's a bad quarterback.

Pappy

You're missing the point. First of all, Leftwich IS a bad QB. He had his chance in JAX, he failed. Since then, he dutifully held a clipboard behind Ben, and one year in there, he rode the coattails of a top defense and played his way into a starting job in Tampa. What happened? He proceeded to flop, not even finishing half the year.

Second and more important--"Had Leftwich not got hurt last week..." THAT'S THE POINT. He's ALWAYS hurt. He can't finish a game. To say that he would've led us to victory is moot because he can't finish a game--let alone play for an extended period.

[steelz09]

Newsflash.....Batch and Byron suck. Anybody trying to come to their defense you might as well dip that turd in some chocolate and take a big bite. They both have the admirable back up QB qualities of immobility, fragility and advance old age. Next year we need to draft the heir apparent to Ben so the learning curve can begin.

Thank you. They both suck. Both of their performances were unacceptable.

I put these losses on the entire Steelers organization. How in the world do you go this many years without grooming a younger QB for a backup? 1 veteran and 1 youngster for grooming. I for one thought Jerrod Johnson should have replaced either Leftwich or Batch. One of them should have been let go.

If it were me, I'd start Hoyer if Ben can't play. Let's be real about this.... Even with a limited playbook, can Hoyer's performance be any worse than Leftwich or Batch? I highly doubt it. Give the kid a shot. It can't get any worse.

[Dee Dub]

I didn't prove your point. Jerrod Johnson isn't even in the NFL right now. But never mind.

The problem with fans is they always believe the next man up/cut was the answer. The reality is that 98% of the time the guy cut would be the same or worse then the guy the team decided to keep.

No one is saying that Jerrod Johnson is the answer or that he would have been great. But he could have been a viable back-up for days like today. As it is right now and has been for quite some time the Steelers dont have a viable option as a back up QB. Neither Leftwich nor Batch are going to win any games for the Steelers.

Why not try and develop a guy like Johnson? Who knows, maybe he has the chance to be decent. Leftwich and Batch will never be descent again. They are both horrible and will never get any better than what they are now.

[BURGH86STEEL]

No one is saying that Jerrod Johnson is the answer or that he would have been great. But he could have been a viable back-up for days like today. As it is right now and has been for quite some time the Steelers dont have a viable option as a back up QB. Neither Leftwich nor Batch are going to win any games for the Steelers.

Why not try and develop a guy like Johnson? Who knows, maybe he has the chance to be decent. Leftwich and Batch will never be descent again. They are both horrible and will never get any better than what they are now.

If Johnson was a viable backup why is he out of the league?

There is a high percentage chance that Johnson wouldn't perform any better then Batch or Leftwich. If the Steelers had kept Johnson and cut Batch or Leftwich there would be people believing that the Steelers should had kept the QB that was cut. The fact remains that when teams are force to play 2nd and 3rd string QB's the result are not going to be good for most teams in the league. I've been watching this game a long time to reach that conclusion. I don't know what to say to the people that haven't realized that the situation is horrible for most team's starting QB's and even worse for team's backup QB's. I guess you guys can continue to believe next guy cut or drafted in the middle rounds will be the answer. History and the percentages will be against you.

[Steelhere10]

The point that I'm making is, if you are going to protect Batch by running vanilla and playing defense then Johnson or Hoyer would have been a better option. If you watched the game you would have thought a rookie was playing. Even the announcer was saying the game plan was to protect Batch by running ,short passes and playing defense.