Mostly the same team. With the system the Steelers have Trent Dilfer could be their QB and they'd still be an elite team. Ben's a good QB but he's far from being the guy or makes or breaks the franchise.
I disagree. The Steelers had a championship caliber defense in the 90's with the likes of Rod Woodson, Greg Lloyd, and Kevin Greene, but could never really get over the hump.
Do us all a favor when you link trash from the bleacher report. Put it in the title so everyone knows to either ignore or derail the thread with panda pics.
They would be playing in the Superbowl this Sunday, with or without. Big Ben didn't ruin our season. He wasn't the factor that propelled them to the big dance. He was actually almost a non-factor.
Wrong. He converted more than one third down that no other QB converts with their feet besides Vick. He also made the throws he needed to make to put the game away. His stat line looked like garbage but he was a big reason the Jets lost. 2,3,4 first downs may not seem like a lot but one can be the difference between points and a punt. He made that difference against the Jets. The running game is what really broke the Jets back to start the game, I am not trying to give Ben all the credit. He was certainly not a non factor. He was a very big factor.
He was a factor, but people aren't giving Mendenhall the credit he deserves. He was the one that really won that game.
He fucked the Jets up to start the game. When it was time to put the game away Ben did what he had to do. There is enough room for them to both get their due. Even with Mendenhall running all over the place Ben had to convert some 3rd downs with his feet to get the game as wide open as it was.
Giving Roethlisberger credit for winning that game is like giving Mariano Rivera credit for winning a game when he gives up 2 runs.
Maybe Ben's stats were the result of the defense he was facing? Give the Jets some credit for that. This isn't Madden football. Not every stat line in the game is going to be pretty but the most important thing is making key plays at key points in the game. Sustaining drives. Ben did that.
Maybe if you are trying to give him all the credit. I think a reasonable person would say that the Steelers probably aren't winning that game with Byron Leftwich playing QB.
The guy knows how to win, plain and simple. He's the perfect game manager that can take over a game if need be.
They would be seraching for SB title #5 if they didn't have Ben. I don't like the Steelers but I am glad he went there and not to the Giants. The Giants made that moronic trade w/ SD when they could have kept those picks and gotten the much better QB.
Speaking of that... has anyone seen the senior bowl commercial with Philip Rivers? "I knew that the Chargers wanted a quarterback and the senior bowl is what got me there." Did he forget that the Chargers didn't draft his ass??