Big Ben's Great? Not Even Close

[hawaiiansteel]

Big Ben's Great? Not Even Close

By ComcastSports
Tue, 01 Feb 2011
By Jordan Raanan




Get ready for overhyping and overanalyzing. It's Super Bowl week, in Dallas no less, where even hats go large.

By the time the Big Game rolls around, the impossible will be done. Ben Roethlisberger will be made into Mother Teresa, Ted Thompson into Ron Wolf. Reality will sit about three pegs below all the hubbub we hear and read on television, radio, newspapers and this Internet thing that was just discovered by television, radio and newspapers alike.

So before we get buried by the hyperbole that is Super Bowl week coverage, let’s try and place everything into perspective. To do so, we're going to sprinkle a little truth serum on everything in and around the Super Bowl:

So, let's be honest …

If Pittsburgh handles Green Bay on Sunday, Roethlisberger will join some pretty elite company with his third Super Bowl title. Terry Bradshaw, Joe Montana, Tom Brady and Troy Aikman are the only QB's with three or more titles.

Adding Roethlisberger to that list is like putting Vanilla Ice's name next to Tupac, Snoop, Biggie and Jay-Z. He doesn't belong. Big Ben will be a three-time Super Bowl champ and one-time Pro Bowler -- in an era where everyone makes the Pro Bowl.

Despite the ridiculousness that's about to spouted all week, that's not the definition of all-time great. I don't care how many rings he accumulates. In fact, Big Ben's not even going to be the best quarterback on the field Sunday when he meets Aaron Rodgers.

Roethlisberger is pretty darn good; his organization is great. He's a Top 10 quarterback in the NFL today -- not even Top 5 -- who only needs to make a handful of plays per game for his team to win. Fortunately for him, football is a team game where the quarterback gets all the credit (or blame).

This ridiculousness that Roethlisberger is in the same stratosphere as Brady and Peyton Manning? Save it for another sucker. Big Ben played one of the worst Super Bowls of any quarterback in history (22.6 QB rating vs. Seattle) ... and won. He has been blessed to play with the support of a Top 5 scoring defense in five of his seven professional seasons. The two times Pittsburgh didn't finish in the top five, the Steleers missed the playoffs.

If Manning made only a handful of plays per game, Indy would lose most weeks by 20. Ditto a handful of other top QBs (Drew Brees, Philip Rivers, Donovan McNabb, Rodgers, Tony Romo) over the past seven seasons.

There isn't a day that goes by that Roethlisberger shouldn't thank his lucky stars that he was drafted by the most stable and successful organization in NFL history. If he were drafted by the Oakland Raiders, he'd be a slightly more successful JaMarcus Russell. Yep, I just said that.

Instead, because he plays on the Steelers, a pretty good NFL quarterback is on the verge of being considered an all-time great.

Please. Think Rivers or McNabb would have won Super Bowls with the Steelers? I do. Romo too. Yep, I just said that too.

I'm not trying to be a Roethlishater. He's a good NFL quarterback. But when people start calling Big Ben great, someone has to bring those people back down to the reality where the rest of us live, breathe and watch football with clear eyes.

Let's be honest ...

The two-week break between Championship Weekend and Super Bowl Sunday is painful. The Pro Bowl completely held us over this past week, like the cashews in a bag of Schwimmer's Health-Glo after a month on one of Survivor's islands.

At least there were three hours of Pro Bowl practices each day on the NFL Network. And a three-hour preview show for the most meaningless football game each year.

Thankfully, Hank Moody was around to satisfy my Sunday night. That man finds more trouble than Charlie Sheen. And I love him dearly for that.

Potpourri

Something tells me Chris Kemoeatu wasn't supposed to tell the world Maurkice Pouncey wasn't going to play in the Super Bowl. But is it surprising coming from a guy who dove into the pile 20 seconds late every other play against the Ravens? … Packers GM Ted Thompson deserves a few apologies. Like from the guy who created this site. Or this site. And this guy who called him an a@@clown on many occasions. The Packers didn't just reach the Bowl. They did it with with seven opening day starters on Injured Reserve and the guy who Thompson chose over Brett Favre at quarterback. Give credit where credit is due. … If the league and networks that broadcast the games want to stop being hypocrites, maybe they shouldn't show slow-motion replays of Rex Ryan slamming his headset and mouthing the most visible F-bomb of all-time. … Rodgers needs a new TD celebration. The championship belt act was fresh back when wrestling was still called WWF. … The players this weekend expressed their desire to keep the Pro Bowl in Hawaii. Um, OK. Who wouldn't want that free trip? Otherwise it's next year in Detroit.

Jordan Raanan has covered the Eagles and NFL since 2005. Follow him on Twitter @JordanRaanan.

[url="http://www.comcast.net/sports/writethatdown/6899836/bigbensgreatnotevenclose/"]http://www.comcast.net/sports/writethat ... evenclose/[/url]

[Oviedo]

Re: Big Ben's Great? Not Even Close

Opinions of a Fantasy Football idiot. I guess if you have stats and lose you are great...see Phil Rivers.

This is however the moronic attitudes that will make Ben no better than a 50/50 candidate for the HoF.

[anger 82&95]

Re: Big Ben's Great? Not Even Close

Squealing and glad handing with pleasure about statistics is for Techmobowl players and highly overrated but still egosyntonic writers. And… to yet again flog the ole dead and desiccated horse, how about Roethlisberger’s EXCEPTIONAL play to get the Steelers to the big game against Seattle.

[Crash]

Re: Big Ben's Great? Not Even Close

Philip Rivers.

[Crash]

Re: Big Ben's Great? Not Even Close

This guy covers the Eagles.

Which means he's watching the Eagles when Ben's playing.

So he picks up the paper, reads the box-score, and assumes.

[MCHammer]

Re: Big Ben's Great? Not Even Close

A lot of us are getting a little worked up over all these Ben ain't elite articles. It's annoying, but this stuff is largely coming from people who either dislike Ben for off-field issues or just don't watch the Steelers all that often.

If you canvassed sports pundits and "analysts" across the league, you'd still probably hear that about 70% still think we are playing "smashmouth" run-the-ball, ball control "steelers football" and therefore the QB is largely irrelevant.

They largely aren't aware - despite having a job that pays them to watch football - of what they are talking about and easily forget/are unaware of Ben's many, many 4th quarter clutch drives.

It says more about the so-called analyst/pundit than it does about Ben that somebody would refuse to even put him in the top 5 and be totally dismissive of putting his name next to Peyton's or Brady's.

This will ultimately be a non-issue as Ben is in the prime of his career and could eventually have more rings than any QB ever. Let the entire body of work do the talking for us. Ben will be a HOF qb without a doubt one day. All the haters and ignoramuses really can't erase his achievements on the field. It's already becoming pretty hard to ignore them. Once the damn breaks and the new media meme takes hold, you won't find many of these cowardly clowns around still denying the obvious.

They will simply join the herd. Most media people at the end of the day are jock sniffing star worshippers and when they can't beat him/Steelers they will ultimately join him/Steelers.

[NW Steeler]

Re: Big Ben's Great? Not Even Close

I'm getting to the point to where I won't even read the drivel about Ben anymore. All I know is we have had #1 defenses and #1 running games and still never even got to the SB, save the '95 season. Tomzcak, O'donell, Kordell, Tommy Gun...nothing got us over the hump until Ben was our QB. The proof is in the pudding Mr. Douchebag writer. Ben does what he needs to to win. Whether he goes 10 for 20 or 25 for 40, he makes the plays. I hope that he has a GREAT game on Sunday so you will just STFU.

[Mister Pittsburgh]

Re: Big Ben's Great? Not Even Close

wow. this dude has no clue. wow, ben had a crappy QB rating 5 years ago where he had a bad superbowl performance......after steamrolling over Denver at their house and over Indy in their dome. People like to leave that part out.

[ScoreKeeper]

Re: Big Ben's Great? Not Even Close

I'm getting to the point to where I won't even read the drivel about Ben anymore. All I know is we have had #1 defenses and #1 running games and still never even got to the SB, save the '95 season. Tomzcak, O'donell, Kordell, Tommy Gun...nothing got us over the hump until Ben was our QB. The proof is in the pudding Mr. Douchebag writer. Ben does what he needs to to win. Whether he goes 10 for 20 or 25 for 40, he makes the plays. I hope that he has a GREAT game on Sunday so you will just STFU.

Amen brother.

[ikestops85]

Re: Big Ben's Great? Not Even Close

Big Ben's Great? Not Even Close

By ComcastSports
Tue, 01 Feb 2011
By Jordan Raanan




Get ready for overhyping and overanalyzing. It's Super Bowl week, in Dallas no less, where even hats go large.

By the time the Big Game rolls around, the impossible will be done. Ben Roethlisberger will be made into Mother Teresa, Ted Thompson into Ron Wolf. Reality will sit about three pegs below all the hubbub we hear and read on television, radio, newspapers and this Internet thing that was just discovered by television, radio and newspapers alike.

So before we get buried by the hyperbole that is Super Bowl week coverage, let’s try and place everything into perspective. To do so, we're going to sprinkle a little truth serum on everything in and around the Super Bowl:

So, let's be honest …

If Pittsburgh handles Green Bay on Sunday, Roethlisberger will join some pretty elite company with his third Super Bowl title. Terry Bradshaw, Joe Montana, Tom Brady and Troy Aikman are the only QB's with three or more titles.

Adding Roethlisberger to that list is like putting Vanilla Ice's name next to Tupac, Snoop, Biggie and Jay-Z. He doesn't belong. Big Ben will be a three-time Super Bowl champ and one-time Pro Bowler -- in an era where everyone makes the Pro Bowl.

Despite the ridiculousness that's about to spouted all week, that's not the definition of all-time great. I don't care how many rings he accumulates. In fact, Big Ben's not even going to be the best quarterback on the field Sunday when he meets Aaron Rodgers.

Roethlisberger is pretty darn good; his organization is great. He's a Top 10 quarterback in the NFL today -- not even Top 5 -- who only needs to make a handful of plays per game for his team to win. Fortunately for him, football is a team game where the quarterback gets all the credit (or blame).

This ridiculousness that Roethlisberger is in the same stratosphere as Brady and Peyton Manning? Save it for another sucker. Big Ben played one of the worst Super Bowls of any quarterback in history (22.6 QB rating vs. Seattle) ... and won. He has been blessed to play with the support of a Top 5 scoring defense in five of his seven professional seasons. The two times Pittsburgh didn't finish in the top five, the Steleers missed the playoffs.

If Manning made only a handful of plays per game, Indy would lose most weeks by 20. Ditto a handful of other top QBs (Drew Brees, Philip Rivers, Donovan McNabb, Rodgers, Tony Romo) over the past seven seasons.

There isn't a day that goes by that Roethlisberger shouldn't thank his lucky stars that he was drafted by the most stable and successful organization in NFL history. If he were drafted by the Oakland Raiders, he'd be a slightly more successful JaMarcus Russell. Yep, I just said that.

Instead, because he plays on the Steelers, a pretty good NFL quarterback is on the verge of being considered an all-time great.

Please. Think Rivers or McNabb would have won Super Bowls with the Steelers? I do. Romo too. Yep, I just said that too.

I'm not trying to be a Roethlishater. He's a good NFL quarterback. But when people start calling Big Ben great, someone has to bring those people back down to the reality where the rest of us live, breathe and watch football with clear eyes.

Let's be honest ...

The two-week break between Championship Weekend and Super Bowl Sunday is painful. The Pro Bowl completely held us over this past week, like the cashews in a bag of Schwimmer's Health-Glo after a month on one of Survivor's islands.

At least there were three hours of Pro Bowl practices each day on the NFL Network. And a three-hour preview show for the most meaningless football game each year.

Thankfully, Hank Moody was around to satisfy my Sunday night. That man finds more trouble than Charlie Sheen. And I love him dearly for that.

Potpourri

Something tells me Chris Kemoeatu wasn't supposed to tell the world Maurkice Pouncey wasn't going to play in the Super Bowl. But is it surprising coming from a guy who dove into the pile 20 seconds late every other play against the Ravens? … Packers GM Ted Thompson deserves a few apologies. Like from the guy who created this site. Or this site. And this guy who called him an a@@clown on many occasions. The Packers didn't just reach the Bowl. They did it with with seven opening day starters on Injured Reserve and the guy who Thompson chose over Brett Favre at quarterback. Give credit where credit is due. … If the league and networks that broadcast the games want to stop being hypocrites, maybe they shouldn't show slow-motion replays of Rex Ryan slamming his headset and mouthing the most visible F-bomb of all-time. … Rodgers needs a new TD celebration. The championship belt act was fresh back when wrestling was still called WWF. … The players this weekend expressed their desire to keep the Pro Bowl in Hawaii. Um, OK. Who wouldn't want that free trip? Otherwise it's next year in Detroit.

Jordan Raanan has covered the Eagles and NFL since 2005. Follow him on Twitter @JordanRaanan.

[url="http://www.comcast.net/sports/writethatdown/6899836/bigbensgreatnotevenclose/"]http://www.comcast.net/sports/writethat ... evenclose/[/url]

[hawaiiansteel]

Re: Big Ben's Great? Not Even Close

As a playoff passer, Ben Roethlisberger is Tom Brady’s equal

Posted by Michael David Smith on February 1, 2011



Fans love to debate which quarterback is the best of them all, which is why a discussion of whether Steelers quarterback Ben Roethlisberger is as good Tom Brady and Peyton Manning is our most-commented post of the last week. But when Roethlisberger was asked whether he thinks he’s up there with Brady and Manning, he gave a diplomatic answer.

“It probably depends on who you ask,” Roethlisberger said. “Every analyst and everybody have their opinions and that’s what they’re paid to do. I think they’re the best in the game. . . . I’d put Aaron Rodgers up there.”

Brady’s reputation is built largely on what he’s done in the playoffs, but it’s worth noting that Roethlisberger has comparable numbers to Brady in the postseason.

As I wrote in today’s Wall Street Journal, Brady’s career playoff passer rating is 85.7. Roethlisberger’s is 85.4. They’re basically equals in playoff passing efficiency.

And with a win on Sunday, they’ll also be equals in Super Bowl rings. Considering that Roethlisberger is also five years younger than Brady, it’s easy to envision, when both of their careers are over, Roethlisberger being considered one of the all-time great quarterbacks — and better than Brady.

[url]http://profootballtalk.nbcsports.com/2011/02/01/as-a-playoff-passer-ben-roethlisberger-is-tom-bradys-equal/[/url]

[NW Steeler]

Re: Big Ben's Great? Not Even Close

I'm getting to the point to where I won't even read the drivel about Ben anymore. All I know is we have had #1 defenses and #1 running games and still never even got to the SB, save the '95 season. Tomzcak, O'donell, Kordell, Tommy Gun...nothing got us over the hump until Ben was our QB. The proof is in the pudding Mr. Douchebag writer. Ben does what he needs to to win. Whether he goes 10 for 20 or 25 for 40, he makes the plays. I hope that he has a GREAT game on Sunday so you will just STFU.

Amen brother.

Thank you. I am also post whoring so I can reach 1000 on Super Bowl Sunday!!!

[hawaiiansteel]

Re: Big Ben's Great? Not Even Close

Thank you. I am also post whoring so I can reach 1000 on Super Bowl Sunday!!!

[BURGH86STEEL]

Re: Big Ben's Great? Not Even Close

Ben's good enough to help this team win games. That's what really matters.

[AngryAsian]

Re: Big Ben's Great? Not Even Close

All the haters can suck the fat vein-layered one. Thank you for this... you all may continue.