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Not sure if you guys read this.
[url="http://www.cbssports.com/nfl/story/11327198"]http://www.cbssports.com/nfl/story/11327198[/url]
TAMPA, Fla. -- So we leave Super Bowl XLIII just as we entered it -- talking about a Hall of Fame quarterback waiting to happen.
Only it's not Kurt Warner. It's Ben Roethlisberger.
With Pittsburgh's 27-23 last-minute defeat of never-say-die Arizona on Sunday, Roethlisberger enters a conversation once considered unimaginable. Yep, I'm talking about Canton, and here's why: In just five years he has been to four playoffs, three conference championship games and two Super Bowls.
Ben Roethlisberger is 21-for-30 for 256 yards, one interception -- and a touchdown pass on the game-winning drive. (AP)
Ben Roethlisberger is 21-for-30 for 256 yards, one interception -- and a touchdown pass on the game-winning drive. (AP)
More important, he's 2-for-2 in Super Bowls.
And that's what I love about this guy. He doesn't produce fantasy-football numbers; he just wins, as in 73 percent of his games and eight of 10 playoff appearances. Plus, there is this: He's at his best when his best is needed most.
And it was needed in the last 2½ minutes Sunday, after a 20-7 Pittsburgh lead had dissolved into a 23-20 Arizona advantage. No problem. Roethlisberger would rally this team as he had so many times before.
"I remember telling our guys, 'It's not over,'" Pittsburgh defensive coordinator Dick LeBeau said. "I believe in Ben, and I have since I saw him play as a sophomore in college. He's been doing that with great regularity."
He did this season. There was the overtime defeat of Baltimore in September. Then a come-from-behind victory over Jacksonville. A last-minute win over San Diego. Another last-minute defeat of Dallas. And the crowning achievement, a 13-9 defeat of Baltimore in December, when he drove the club 92 yards to score with less than a minute left.
No comeback, however, can surpass Sunday's, with Roethlisberger completing five of seven passes to drive the Steelers 88 yards. The clincher, of course, was that magnificent touchdown catch by MVP Santonio Holmes, but we've seen that before, too.
Remember who beat Baltimore for a 65-yard score in the AFC title game? Uh-huh, the same guy who beat the Ravens with that controversial last-minute touchdown in December.
None of those plays, of course, would have been possible without Roethlisberger making them. Against Baltimore, he hit both his passes after scrambling to his left and fighting off a furious pass rush. Against Arizona, he stood in the pocket, pumped once, looked left then lofted a pass to the corner of the end zone that Holmes caught.
Great pass. Great catch. Great quarterback.
"What was that play called?" someone asked.
"Drop back, scramble right, scramble left, find someone open," Roethlisberger said.
Well, it worked ... again. Just as it worked on a first-quarter pass where Roethlisberger was corralled, scrambled left, sprinted back to his right, then threw the ball back to his left before he was hammered. Not only was the pass caught; it was caught for a first down.
But that's Roethlisberger, and that's why he deserves so much more than he's gotten this or any other season. Too often he gets lost in the accolades thrown down on the league's No. 1-ranked defense, but on this evening, when the defense cracked, the Steelers were forced to find oxygen from another source.
They dialed Roethlisberger, and he responded as he did not in Super Bowl XL.
"It feels a lot better to be able to come back on that last drive," he said, "probably a drive that will be remembered for a long time -- at least in Steelers history. So it feels really good, really special."
Those are two adjectives that should be attached to Roethlisberger's name from now on. I don't care if he once was perceived as a caretaker of the Steelers' offense. That's old news. He makes plays when you need them, and on Sunday the Steelers needed them.
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So he threw one touchdown pass. It was only the most important pass of the evening ... and isn't that what defines greatness? When you absolutely, positively must make a play, whom do you call? Some people will say Tom Brady. Others will call on Peyton Manning.
But you better throw Ben Roethlisberger in there, which means you better start looking at him as Hall of Fame material.
Yeah, I know he's only 26 and it's a little early to get on the subject, but in just five years he has one more Super Bowl victory than Manning has in his illustrious career. That should at least get the conversation going.
"Ben may not have the stats as all the other guys in the league," said wide receiver Hines Ward, "but one stat he does have is that he's a winner. Two Super Bowls in five years, and to have a Super Bowl like he did?
"I know he was eager to play this game because he wanted to prove to all the naysayers that he can perform at a top level. And he sure did on that last drive. That was Joe Montana-like. But he's done that all year.
"I think this helps solidify him as one of the best quarterbacks in the league."
I don't. I know it does.
[url="http://www.cbssports.com/nfl/story/11327198"]http://www.cbssports.com/nfl/story/11327198[/url]
TAMPA, Fla. -- So we leave Super Bowl XLIII just as we entered it -- talking about a Hall of Fame quarterback waiting to happen.
Only it's not Kurt Warner. It's Ben Roethlisberger.
With Pittsburgh's 27-23 last-minute defeat of never-say-die Arizona on Sunday, Roethlisberger enters a conversation once considered unimaginable. Yep, I'm talking about Canton, and here's why: In just five years he has been to four playoffs, three conference championship games and two Super Bowls.
Ben Roethlisberger is 21-for-30 for 256 yards, one interception -- and a touchdown pass on the game-winning drive. (AP)
Ben Roethlisberger is 21-for-30 for 256 yards, one interception -- and a touchdown pass on the game-winning drive. (AP)
More important, he's 2-for-2 in Super Bowls.
And that's what I love about this guy. He doesn't produce fantasy-football numbers; he just wins, as in 73 percent of his games and eight of 10 playoff appearances. Plus, there is this: He's at his best when his best is needed most.
And it was needed in the last 2½ minutes Sunday, after a 20-7 Pittsburgh lead had dissolved into a 23-20 Arizona advantage. No problem. Roethlisberger would rally this team as he had so many times before.
"I remember telling our guys, 'It's not over,'" Pittsburgh defensive coordinator Dick LeBeau said. "I believe in Ben, and I have since I saw him play as a sophomore in college. He's been doing that with great regularity."
He did this season. There was the overtime defeat of Baltimore in September. Then a come-from-behind victory over Jacksonville. A last-minute win over San Diego. Another last-minute defeat of Dallas. And the crowning achievement, a 13-9 defeat of Baltimore in December, when he drove the club 92 yards to score with less than a minute left.
No comeback, however, can surpass Sunday's, with Roethlisberger completing five of seven passes to drive the Steelers 88 yards. The clincher, of course, was that magnificent touchdown catch by MVP Santonio Holmes, but we've seen that before, too.
Remember who beat Baltimore for a 65-yard score in the AFC title game? Uh-huh, the same guy who beat the Ravens with that controversial last-minute touchdown in December.
None of those plays, of course, would have been possible without Roethlisberger making them. Against Baltimore, he hit both his passes after scrambling to his left and fighting off a furious pass rush. Against Arizona, he stood in the pocket, pumped once, looked left then lofted a pass to the corner of the end zone that Holmes caught.
Great pass. Great catch. Great quarterback.
"What was that play called?" someone asked.
"Drop back, scramble right, scramble left, find someone open," Roethlisberger said.
Well, it worked ... again. Just as it worked on a first-quarter pass where Roethlisberger was corralled, scrambled left, sprinted back to his right, then threw the ball back to his left before he was hammered. Not only was the pass caught; it was caught for a first down.
But that's Roethlisberger, and that's why he deserves so much more than he's gotten this or any other season. Too often he gets lost in the accolades thrown down on the league's No. 1-ranked defense, but on this evening, when the defense cracked, the Steelers were forced to find oxygen from another source.
They dialed Roethlisberger, and he responded as he did not in Super Bowl XL.
"It feels a lot better to be able to come back on that last drive," he said, "probably a drive that will be remembered for a long time -- at least in Steelers history. So it feels really good, really special."
Those are two adjectives that should be attached to Roethlisberger's name from now on. I don't care if he once was perceived as a caretaker of the Steelers' offense. That's old news. He makes plays when you need them, and on Sunday the Steelers needed them.
Threads
So he threw one touchdown pass. It was only the most important pass of the evening ... and isn't that what defines greatness? When you absolutely, positively must make a play, whom do you call? Some people will say Tom Brady. Others will call on Peyton Manning.
But you better throw Ben Roethlisberger in there, which means you better start looking at him as Hall of Fame material.
Yeah, I know he's only 26 and it's a little early to get on the subject, but in just five years he has one more Super Bowl victory than Manning has in his illustrious career. That should at least get the conversation going.
"Ben may not have the stats as all the other guys in the league," said wide receiver Hines Ward, "but one stat he does have is that he's a winner. Two Super Bowls in five years, and to have a Super Bowl like he did?
"I know he was eager to play this game because he wanted to prove to all the naysayers that he can perform at a top level. And he sure did on that last drive. That was Joe Montana-like. But he's done that all year.
"I think this helps solidify him as one of the best quarterbacks in the league."
I don't. I know it does.
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