Big Ben finally gets elite treatment

[fordfixer]

Harris: Big Ben finally gets elite treatment

By John Harris, TRIBUNE-REVIEW
Monday, October 12, 2009
[url="http://www.pittsburghlive.com/x/pittsburghtrib/sports/steelers/s_647577.html"]http://www.pittsburghlive.com/x/pittsbu ... 47577.html[/url]

DETROIT — Finally, some much-needed love shown for Steelers quarterback Ben Roethlisberger.

Yes, the same deep, passionate love affair the NFL has with Tom Brady and Peyton Manning was on display Sunday afternoon at Ford Field when Roethlisberger was taken down at the knees by Detroit Lions defensive tackle Landon Cohen after tossing an interception in the second quarter.

A penalty flag thrown in Roethlisberger's direction told the story as he disengaged from a tangle of players.

In the offseason, team owners passed a rule that made it illegal for defensive players to dive at a quarterback's legs.

For a change, Roethlisberger's legs were off limits.

"I was surprised,'' said left tackle Max Starks, a six-year veteran. "Very few times since I've been on this team, we've gotten a call like that.''

Instead of Detroit having the ball, the Steelers maintained possession. Five plays later, Roethlisberger's 15-yard touchdown pass to Heath Miller gave the Steelers a 14-6 lead en route to a 28-20 victory — and gave Roethlisberger some long-anticipated respect.

I don't want to say Roethlisberger has an inferiority complex when it comes to Brady and Manning, but you make the call.

Asked the other day about where he ranks in the quarterback pecking order, Roethlisberger said something to the effect that because Brady and Manning are considered two of the faces of the league, referees tend to give them the benefit of the doubt.

The implication, of course, is that Roethlisberger isn't treated with the same respect as his peers.

Upon studying Roethlisberger's impressive dossier, you have to wonder how come such a double-standard exists, why the Bradys and Mannings receive those calls in their favor, while Roethlisberger generally doesn't.

Roethlisberger's 53-22 record in his first five seasons ranks second among active quarterbacks.

He's won one more Super Bowl than Manning, and one fewer Super Bowl than Brady.

Allegedly a "system" quarterback who has won two Super Bowls because of a great defense, Roethlisberger is proving this season he can be just as effective operating a wide-open, passing attack.

He entered yesterday's game first in completion percentage, third in passing yards and third in yards per completion, as the Steelers ranked third in passing offense.

Against Detroit, Roethlisberger was 23 of 30 for 277 yards, three touchdowns and a interception that was returned for a touchdown. He had a passer rating of 123.9.

After the game, Roethlisberger didn't address the roughing the passer penalty, or how it had been a long time coming since officials had seen fit to throw a flag in his favor.

Roethlisberger spoke only about the tackle itself and what if Cohen had hit him a little harder or held onto him a split-second longer.

"I'm just glad there wasn't any weight on it because it wouldn't have been fun,'' Roethlisberger said.

Instead, Roethlisberger's teammates did his talking for him.

"You pray that referees are going to call it fair. But we always get the short end of the stick,'' Starks said. "When the defense gets Ben, they play roughhouse because they know he's such a physical guy. You can't do it on a case-by-case basis. You have to play it fair. You call it on Drew Brees and Tom Brady, you have to call it on Ben as well.''

Roethlisberger is a franchise quarterback who, despite his lofty credentials, isn't always treated like one.

He shouldn't have to prove anything to anyone at this point, but that's probably a good thing because those slights — perceived or otherwise — drive him to be the best.

[Steeler Expat]

Re: Big Ben finally gets elite treatment

Instead of Detroit having the ball, the Steelers maintained possession. Five plays later, Roethlisberger's 15-yard touchdown pass to Heath Miller gave the Steelers a 14-6 lead en route to a 28-20 victory — and gave Roethlisberger some long-anticipated respect.

That would not have been an interception. The DB did not catch it because the ball hit the ground. The refs even blew the play dead. The announcers never picked up on this. Doesn't matter now but little stuff like that annoys me sometimes!

[Uncle Rico]

Re: Big Ben finally gets elite treatment

Ben might be an elite QB but he'll never get the same slobberfest that Brady, Manning, and Favre get on a daily basis from those jokers over on ESPN.

[JTP53609]

Re: Big Ben finally gets elite treatment

it does not matter if you win, all that matters is stats, thats why we live in the fantasy football world, who cares that big ben has 2 super bowls and has never had a losing season, that is not important, but it is important to throw for 300 yds every game and lead the league in touchdowns.......it makes me so angry that he does not get the credit he deserves, how he did not win super bowl mvp is beyond me, if brady or manning had the same numbers during the same type game you know they would get the mvp, heck peyton won the mvp in the super bowl and had a bad game.......

[JTP53609]

Re: Big Ben finally gets elite treatment

and thats another thing that really makes me boil over, if i hear the media talk about how bad he was in super bowl 40 i am going to go nuts, yea he struggled and struggled badly, BUT what about the 3 playoff games that got us to the super bowl, when he was nearly perfect in each one of those on the road, you never hear how good he was then just how bad he was in the super bowl, the angel peyton was terrible in the playoffs the year they won the super bowl but bc its peyton manning, it does not matter, he deserves it...

[proudpittsburgher]

Re: Big Ben finally gets elite treatment

it does not matter if you win, all that matters is stats, thats why we live in the fantasy football world, who cares that big ben has 2 super bowls and has never had a losing season, that is not important, but it is important to throw for 300 yds every game and lead the league in touchdowns.......it makes me so angry that he does not get the credit he deserves, how he did not win super bowl mvp is beyond me, if brady or manning had the same numbers during the same type game you know they would get the mvp, heck peyton won the mvp in the super bowl and had a bad game.......

The thing that makes me most angry is the love for Peyton, because of the stats. He keeps throwing the ball downfield in the fourth quarter of blowouts to pad those stats, and never seems to get called out on it. He did it the season he set the record for TD passes, and he did it again on Sunday night, to extend his streak of consecutive games over 300 yards passing. He was pressed about it after the game, and all he could come up with was "Hmm, really, I didn't know how many yards I had passed for." Yea right. How aboutm, the game was out of reach, and maybe, just maybe we shopuld have been running the clock out. You want to pass, take the dumpoff for the first down. No Peyton, you go for the 45 yard bomb.

[JTP53609]

Re: Big Ben finally gets elite treatment

it does not matter if you win, all that matters is stats, thats why we live in the fantasy football world, who cares that big ben has 2 super bowls and has never had a losing season, that is not important, but it is important to throw for 300 yds every game and lead the league in touchdowns.......it makes me so angry that he does not get the credit he deserves, how he did not win super bowl mvp is beyond me, if brady or manning had the same numbers during the same type game you know they would get the mvp, heck peyton won the mvp in the super bowl and had a bad game.......

The thing that makes me most angry is the love for Peyton, because of the stats. He keeps throwing the ball downfield in the fourth quarter of blowouts to pad those stats, and never seems to get called out on it. He did it the season he set the record for TD passes, and he did it again on Sunday night, to extend his streak of consecutive games over 300 yards passing. He was pressed about it after the game, and all he could come up with was "Hmm, really, I didn't know how many yards I had passed for." Yea right. How aboutm, the game was out of reach, and maybe, just maybe we shopuld have been running the clock out. You want to pass, take the dumpoff for the first down. No Peyton, you go for the 45 yard bomb.

i did not even know that happened, that is absolutley ridiculous, i did not watch the second half so yea, of course i did not hear about that because your right nobody would ever call him out on it, man does that make me angry, ben gets ripped and the mannings get loved, i dont care about the media but they need to start realizing how bad they sound

[proudpittsburgher]

Re: Big Ben finally gets elite treatment

it does not matter if you win, all that matters is stats, thats why we live in the fantasy football world, who cares that big ben has 2 super bowls and has never had a losing season, that is not important, but it is important to throw for 300 yds every game and lead the league in touchdowns.......it makes me so angry that he does not get the credit he deserves, how he did not win super bowl mvp is beyond me, if brady or manning had the same numbers during the same type game you know they would get the mvp, heck peyton won the mvp in the super bowl and had a bad game.......

The thing that makes me most angry is the love for Peyton, because of the stats. He keeps throwing the ball downfield in the fourth quarter of blowouts to pad those stats, and never seems to get called out on it. He did it the season he set the record for TD passes, and he did it again on Sunday night, to extend his streak of consecutive games over 300 yards passing. He was pressed about it after the game, and all he could come up with was "Hmm, really, I didn't know how many yards I had passed for." Yea right. How aboutm, the game was out of reach, and maybe, just maybe we shopuld have been running the clock out. You want to pass, take the dumpoff for the first down. No Peyton, you go for the 45 yard bomb.

i did not even know that happened, that is absolutley ridiculous, i did not watch the second half so yea, of course i did not hear about that because your right nobody would ever call him out on it, man does that make me angry, ben gets ripped and the mannings get loved, i dont care about the media but they need to start realizing how bad they sound

Here's the final drive for the Colts in the fourth quarter, already up 31-9. Notice the two plays which were run out of the shotgun. He only passed for 21 yards during the drive, but he finished with, oh golly gee, look at that, 309 yards, to extend the streak. He even threw in a pass on first down just to get him over the 300-yard hump. Actually, he was at 301, but you never can be too sure, huh Peyton? Then, once he was assured he had his 300, it was run, run, run, run, punt. I swear, I am waiting for Manning to do this in garbage time, and get rolled up or something. No need top be passing the ball on anything other than third and long late in the fourth quarter with a three TD lead. He's a stats monger, plain and simple, which is fine, because he is good at compiling them, until the playoffs, of course.

1st and 10 at IND 24 D.Brown right guard to IND 22 for -2 yards (W.Hayes).
2nd and 12 at IND 22 (Shotgun) P.Manning pass short middle to D.Clark to IND 28 for 6 yards (S.Tulloch).
3rd and 6 at IND 28 (Shotgun) P.Manning pass short left to R.Wayne to IND 35 for 7 yards (K.Bulluck).
1st and 10 at IND 35 P.Manning pass short right to A.Collie to IND 43 for 8 yards (M.Griffin).
2nd and 2 at IND 43 D.Brown right tackle to IND 46 for 3 yards (D.Ball, D.Thornton).
1st and 10 at IND 46 C.Simpson left tackle to IND 46 for no gain (S.Tulloch).
2nd and 10 at IND 46 C.Simpson up the middle to TEN 47 for 7 yards (K.Bulluck).
3rd and 3 at TEN 47 C.Simpson left tackle to TEN 45 for 2 yards (K.Bulluck). Penalty on IND-R.Wayne, Offensive Holding, declined.
4th and 1 at TEN 45 (Punt formation) P.McAfee punts 27 yards to TEN 18, Center-J.Snow, fair catch by M.Jones.

[steeler_fan_in_t.o.]

Re: Big Ben finally gets elite treatment

Instead of Detroit having the ball, the Steelers maintained possession. Five plays later, Roethlisberger's 15-yard touchdown pass to Heath Miller gave the Steelers a 14-6 lead en route to a 28-20 victory — and gave Roethlisberger some long-anticipated respect.

That would not have been an interception. The DB did not catch it because the ball hit the ground. The refs even blew the play dead. The announcers never picked up on this. Doesn't matter now but little stuff like that annoys me sometimes!

And this article comes from a Pittsburgh writer.....but isn't this the same guy who always gets trashed for horrible articles?

[JTP53609]

Re: Big Ben finally gets elite treatment

it does not matter if you win, all that matters is stats, thats why we live in the fantasy football world, who cares that big ben has 2 super bowls and has never had a losing season, that is not important, but it is important to throw for 300 yds every game and lead the league in touchdowns.......it makes me so angry that he does not get the credit he deserves, how he did not win super bowl mvp is beyond me, if brady or manning had the same numbers during the same type game you know they would get the mvp, heck peyton won the mvp in the super bowl and had a bad game.......

The thing that makes me most angry is the love for Peyton, because of the stats. He keeps throwing the ball downfield in the fourth quarter of blowouts to pad those stats, and never seems to get called out on it. He did it the season he set the record for TD passes, and he did it again on Sunday night, to extend his streak of consecutive games over 300 yards passing. He was pressed about it after the game, and all he could come up with was "Hmm, really, I didn't know how many yards I had passed for." Yea right. How aboutm, the game was out of reach, and maybe, just maybe we shopuld have been running the clock out. You want to pass, take the dumpoff for the first down. No Peyton, you go for the 45 yard bomb.

i did not even know that happened, that is absolutley ridiculous, i did not watch the second half so yea, of course i did not hear about that because your right nobody would ever call him out on it, man does that make me angry, ben gets ripped and the mannings get loved, i dont care about the media but they need to start realizing how bad they sound

Here's the final drive for the Colts in the fourth quarter, already up 31-9. Notice the two plays which were run out of the shotgun. He only passed for 21 yards during the drive, but he finished with, oh golly gee, look at that, 309 yards, to extend the streak. He even threw in a pass on first down just to get him over the 300-yard hump. Actually, he was at 301, but you never can be too sure, huh Peyton? Then, once he was assured he had his 300, it was run, run, run, run, punt. I swear, I am waiting for Manning to do this in garbage time, and get rolled up or something. No need top be passing the ball on anything other than third and long late in the fourth quarter with a three TD lead. He's a stats monger, plain and simple, which is fine, because he is good at compiling them, until the playoffs, of course.

1st and 10 at IND 24 D.Brown right guard to IND 22 for -2 yards (W.Hayes).
2nd and 12 at IND 22 (Shotgun) P.Manning pass short middle to D.Clark to IND 28 for 6 yards (S.Tulloch).
3rd and 6 at IND 28 (Shotgun) P.Manning pass short left to R.Wayne to IND 35 for 7 yards (K.Bulluck).
1st and 10 at IND 35 P.Manning pass short right to A.Collie to IND 43 for 8 yards (M.Griffin).
2nd and 2 at IND 43 D.Brown right tackle to IND 46 for 3 yards (D.Ball, D.Thornton).
1st and 10 at IND 46 C.Simpson left tackle to IND 46 for no gain (S.Tulloch).
2nd and 10 at IND 46 C.Simpson up the middle to TEN 47 for 7 yards (K.Bulluck).
3rd and 3 at TEN 47 C.Simpson left tackle to TEN 45 for 2 yards (K.Bulluck). Penalty on IND-R.Wayne, Offensive Holding, declined.
4th and 1 at TEN 45 (Punt formation) P.McAfee punts 27 yards to TEN 18, Center-J.Snow, fair catch by M.Jones.

wow....that is unreal, thank you for that, nice post, i wish we could send that into bspn or something just to , but they will not have that, you cannot do any bad talking of peyton, brady, ray ray, or any "superstar"

[NW Steeler]

Re: Big Ben finally gets elite treatment

and thats another thing that really makes me boil over, if i hear the media talk about how bad he was in super bowl 40 i am going to go nuts, yea he struggled and struggled badly, BUT what about the 3 playoff games that got us to the super bowl, when he was nearly perfect in each one of those on the road, you never hear how good he was then just how bad he was in the super bowl, the angel peyton was terrible in the playoffs the year they won the super bowl but bc its peyton manning, it does not matter, he deserves it...

That one gets me too. They talk SOOOO much about Ben's performance in SB XL, but never talk about how he plays LIGHTS OUT in the 3 games leading them to the SB. Completely ridiculous. But whatever. They can have all of the fantasy stats, Ben will take the rings.
I think Ben will be looked upon with much more media love after he retires. In another 10 years!

[anger 82&95]

Re: Big Ben finally gets elite treatment

If Manning is the greatest quarterback to ever strap on a helmet in the NFL but has only won a single super bowl, doesn’t that make him a choke artist??? And no, I refuse to accept the whinny “it’s my o-line” rubbish. Maybe the drunken place kicker was right…

[proudpittsburgher]

Re: Big Ben finally gets elite treatment

If Manning is the greatest quarterback to ever strap on a helmet in the NFL but has only won a single super bowl, doesn’t that make him a choke artist??? And no, I refuse to accept the whinny “it’s my o-line” rubbish. Maybe the drunken place kicker was right…

It's more than just winning one super bowl, the Colts have been one-and-done a ton of times during his tenure. And he has had some real stinkers of games in that stretch as well. Yet, he is the greatest thing since sliced bread.

[JTP53609]

Re: Big Ben finally gets elite treatment

If Manning is the greatest quarterback to ever strap on a helmet in the NFL but has only won a single super bowl, doesn’t that make him a choke artist??? And no, I refuse to accept the whinny “it’s my o-line” rubbish. Maybe the drunken place kicker was right…

It's more than just winning one super bowl, the Colts have been one-and-done a ton of times during his tenure. And he has had some real stinkers of games in that stretch as well. Yet, he is the greatest thing since sliced bread.

i hear ya, every year they are the pick to win the super bowl by the "experts" once the playoffs start, than they lose in the first game and it is on to next season where they will be blown up again, i really do think that the media likes player and stats more than teams and wins...

[proudpittsburgher]

Re: Big Ben finally gets elite treatment

and thats another thing that really makes me boil over, if i hear the media talk about how bad he was in super bowl 40 i am going to go nuts, yea he struggled and struggled badly, BUT what about the 3 playoff games that got us to the super bowl, when he was nearly perfect in each one of those on the road, you never hear how good he was then just how bad he was in the super bowl, the angel peyton was terrible in the playoffs the year they won the super bowl but bc its peyton manning, it does not matter, he deserves it...

That one gets me too. They talk SOOOO much about Ben's performance in SB XL, but never talk about how he plays LIGHTS OUT in the 3 games leading them to the SB. Completely ridiculous. But whatever. They can have all of the fantasy stats, Ben will take the rings.
I think Ben will be looked upon with much more media love after he retires. In another 10 years!

It's gotten to the point where I start yelling at the TV everytime they bring it up. It would be one thing if he only had above average games in that stretch, but you could argue that he carried the team in the wins over Cincy, Indy and Denver. He flat-out played out of his mind against Denver.