Steelers Today – A Pittsburgh Steelers blog

Back in 2008, I wrote an article called “Top 10 reasons why “Big Ben” is better than Eli Manning“.  On Sunday, the two quarterbacks meet again for only the third time in their careers.  Each has won once.  So in some ways, this will be a rubber match between the two.

With that in mind, I decided that it was time to once again evaluate which of the two quarterbacks is better at this point in their career.

The first article that I wrote on this topic was meant to be a partially humorous piece.  But this one will be a serious analysis of how the two quarterbacks have played up to this point in their careers.

I’m sure that everyone remembers that both quarterbacks were drafted in the first round of the 2004 NFL Draft.  Eli Manning was the first player picked, San Diego Chargers QB Philip Rivers was drafted 4th, and Ben Roethlisberger was drafted 11th.  The class was further strengthened by the fact that Houston Texans QB Matt Schaub, who has also had an excellent career, was drafted in the 3rd round by the Atlanta Falcons.

There is no doubt that Big Ben’s career got off to a much better start.  He led his team to 13 straight wins as a rookie.  He lost to the New England Patriots in the AFC Championship that year, but he went on to lead his team to a Super Bowl victory the following year.

Meanwhile, Eli Manning struggled early on.  He didn’t become a starter until the 10th game of his rookie season.  He ran up 6 straight losses before finally winning the final game of the season.  Even the New York media and fans began calling Eli a “bust”.

As their careers have gone on, both players have established themselves as solid NFL quarterbacks.  There are no longer any questions about whether either of them deserved their first round draft selection.  Big Ben has led his team to three Super Bowls, winning two of them and losing once to the Green Bay Packers.  Eli Manning has appeared in two Super Bowls, and won each time.  Combined, the two quarterbacks have appeared in 5 of the 9 Super Bowls that have taken place since they entered the league.  That’s an incredible record for two incredible quarterbacks.

But the question still remains, which quarterback is better?

So let’s take a look at their career statistics.  Eli has run an offense that passed more often than Ben’s.  Eli has attempted almost 700 more passes than Ben.  But despite that, Eli has only thrown for 1,314 more yards.  He’s averaged 7.1 yards per completion, compared to 8.0 yards per completion for Ben.  So Eli has thrown more times for more yards than Ben, but Ben has thrown longer passes on average.  More importantly, he has a higher completion percentage despite throwing more long passes.

Another key measure of quarterbacks is how often they throw interceptions.  Eli Manning has thrown more interceptions than Big Ben, but that’s not a fair comparison since he’s also thrown more passes.  But if we look at each quarterbacks interceptions as a percentage of their total pass attempts, Big Ben definitely comes out on top.  Eli Manning has thrown interceptions on 5% of his pass attempts, while Ben has thrown interceptions on only 3% of his passes.

In the statistic that is supposed to measure the quality of a quarterback, QB rating, Big Ben wins by a large margin.  Roethlisberger’s career QB rating of 92.8 is a full 10 points higher than Manning’s 82.6 career QB rating.  This year, Roethlisberger has a 101.4 QB rating, compared to 89.1 for Manning.  In fact, Roethlisberger has had a better QB rating than Manning in 6 of the 9 seasons that they’ve been in the league.

Another advantage that Ben has over Eli is his ability to run the ball.  Ben has made a career out of extending the play.  He has a level of mobility that Eli just doesn’t have.  While neither quarterback has been Michael Vick, Ben has run for far more yards than Eli.  Eli has only 372 rushing yards in his career, while Ben has rushed for 989 yards.

In fact, the only statistic in which Eli Manning is clearly superior to Ben Roethlisberger is in his ability to avoid sacks.  Big Ben’s tendency to try to extend the play has led him to take an inordinate number of sacks.  He’s taken over 40 sacks in 5 of his 9 NFL seasons.  Meanwhile, Eli Manning has never taken 40 sacks in a season.  In fact, he’s only taken 30 sacks in one season during his career.  In total, Ben has taken 327 sacks compared to only 200 sacks for Eli Manning.

If winning championships is the true measure of a quarterback, then Ben Roethlisberger and Eli Manning are two of the best of their time.  Both men have won two Super Bowls.  So in that regard, they’re equals.  But by just about every other measure, Ben Roethlisberger is the better quarterback.

These two quarterbacks are in the prime of their careers.  They both still have plenty of time to lead their teams to more Super Bowls.  So this argument will continue until they’ve both retired and we can look back at their careers in their entirety.

But at this point in their careers, I think the data is pretty clear.  Both are good quarterbacks, but Big Ben is better.  Ben is bigger, stronger, faster, and he’s accumulated better statistics throughout his career.  Some will disagree with me, but I find it hard to make a case for Eli Manning.  In my opinion, Ben is definitely the better of the two.  In fact, it’s not even close.

Hurricane Sandy caused lots of damage in the New York City area, but she won’t prevent the Steelers and Giants from playing on Sunday.  The NFL has already announced that the game is going to go on as scheduled.

Personally, I think the game should be delayed.  There is still too much recovering that needs to occur in the NY/NJ area.  The Steelers aren’t even going to be able to travel in advance like they usually would.  The hotel that they were scheduled to stay at still doesn’t have power.  So they’re going to have to travel the day of the game, which is an incredible inconvenience for the Steelers.

On Friday, the Miami Heat played the New York Knicks, and Dwayne Wade tweeted ““3 hour traffic just to get into the NY city.. C’mon man…”

Saturday’s New York Marathon was cancelled.  Much of the public transit system still isn’t running.  Many fans who might have otherwise attended the game, won’t be able to attend.

But the game goes on.  So let’s discuss.

The Giants are 6-2, and in first place in the tough NFC East division.  Eli Manning has led them to several come-from-behind victories, and is genuinely becoming an elite quarterback.

His favorite target is WR Victor Cruz.  Cruz has 650 receiving yards and 7 touchdowns this season.  That’s over over 150 more receiving yards than Antonio Brown has this season, and almost 200 more yards than Mike Wallace has.  And his touchdown total is more than Brown’s and Wallace’s combined.  Ike Taylor will definitely be assigned to Mr. Cruz.

The Giants’ running game is led by Ahmad Bradshaw.  Bradshaw has already accumulated 570 rushing yards this season, and he’s averaging 4.5 yards per carry.

Traditionally, the Giants have been known for having a punishing defense.  But that hasn’t been the case this year.  The Giants can’t seem to stop anyone this season.  Their defense is ranked 24th in the NFL, allowing 386.5 yards per game.  For comparison, the Steelers’ defense is only allowing 274.1 yards per game.

But the Steelers are going to have their own challenges this week.  They’re going to be without Troy Polamalu, who is still nursing a calf injury.  We all know that the Steelers defense just isn’t the same without Polamalu.

Right tackle Marcus Gilbert, and running backs Jonathan Dwyer and Rashard Mendenhall likely won’t play either.

Despite their injury situation, and the inconvenience of having to travel on the same day as the game, I still predict a win by the Steelers.  I’m predicting a final score of 27-17.

Go Steelers!

Tonight at 8:20 p.m. ET, our Steelers take on the Cincinnati Bengals in what has become a “must win” game for both teams.

For the Bengals, it’s a must win because they have to end the tailspin that they suddenly find themselves in.  The Bengals have lost their last two games.  More importantly, they’ve lost them to really bad teams.  Two weeks ago, they lost to the Miami Dolphins, a team that doesn’t instill fear into the hearts of many of their opponents.  Then last week they lost to the lowly Cleveland Browns, who we all know are the NFL’s equivalent of the cowardly lion.

The Bengals had already lost to the Baltimore Ravens in week 1 of the season.  So these two back to back losses suddenly left the Bengals with a 3-3 record, with two of their 3 losses coming from within the division.  A loss to the Steelers would be the Bengals’ third loss within the AFC North, and they still have to face the Ravens and Steelers again.  That’s not a good scenario for a team that had serious hopes of winning the division.

For the Steelers, the game is just as crucial.  With a record of 2-3, the Steelers are below .500, and really need a win today.  A loss would leave them with a 2-4 record, and no wins against division opponents.  Unlike the other teams in the AFC North, the Steelers haven’t faced any division opponents yet.  So they still have plenty of opportunities to dig themselves out from the three unexpected losses to non-division opponents.

But if the Steelers should lose today, they would have 1 loss within their division, and they’d still have to face the Bengals again later in the season.  More dauntingly, they still have two games to play against the Baltimore Ravens, a team that swept them last year.  The Ravens have been devastated by injuries, having lost Ray Lewis and Lardarius Webb last week, but they’re still a dangerous team.

In order to beat the Bengals, the Steelers are going to have to find a way to shut down their most dangerous player; wide receiver A.J. Green.  Ordinarily, I would have said that the Steelers could simply assign Ike Taylor to cover him, and the threat of A.J Green would be neutralized.  Unfortunately, somebody replaced the Ike Taylor that we all knew with his doppelganger twin.  And Ike’s twin can’t play at all.  In fact, his only visible skill is an uncanny ability to draw pass interference penalties.  A.J. Green will completely destroy “Doppelganger Ike”.

To make matters even worse for the Steelers, Marcus Gilbert is out with an injury, and he’s being replaced by rookie Mike Adams in the starting lineup.  We all remember how poorly things went for Adams the last time he was called upon to play significant minutes.  Adams proved to us that it actually IS possible to be called for holding penalties more often than Willie Colon.  That’s a feat that I thought was a physical impossibility.

With Gilbert out of the lineup, the Steelers running game would likely have taken a step backwards from its already woeful state.  But it doesn’t stop there.  Both Rashard Mendenhall and Isaac Redman have been ruled out for Sunday’s game.  So Jonathan Dwyer, Baron Batch, and Chris Rainey will have to carry the rushing load.

Fortunately, the Bengals’ run defense isn’t particularly good.   They’re ranked 21st in the NFL against the run, and they allow 116.8 yards per game on the ground.  They may be just the opponent that the Steelers need to get their running game back on track.

On the defensive side of the ball, the Steelers are also going to have challenges.  Troy Polamalu is still not ready to play.  His calf injury is still bothering him, and he’s been ruled out for Sunday’s game.  While Troy is only one person, he is a critical piece of the Steelers’ defense.  We’ve seen repeatedly over the past few years that the Steelers’ defense simply doesn’t work as well when Troy doesn’t play.

But on the positive side, James Harrison and LaMarr Woodley will actually be on the field at the same time.  That’s been a rare sight over the past 16 games or so.  The Steelers can definitely pressure the quarterback better when both Woodley and Harrison are on the field.

Despite all of the injuries and adversity that the Steelers have faced, one thing has been consistent; Ben Roethlisberger.  Big Ben has been slinging the ball to his crew of highly talented receivers, and has been putting up very respectable stats.  That fact sometimes gets lost in the midst of the Steelers’ other struggles.  But it’s exactly that fact that I believe is going to be the Steelers’ salvation today.  I believe that even if the Steelers’ rushing attack flounders, Big Ben and his “Young Money” receivers are going to prove to be too much for the Bengals to handle.

I predict a Steelers win against their first AFC North opponent of the season.  Final score:  Steelers 24, Bengals 17.

The Pittsburgh Steelers travel to Nashville to face the Tennessee Titans on Thursday night.  The game will be broadcast on NFL Network at 8:20 p.m.

I remember when Pittsburgh vs. Tennessee had all of the excitement of a Steelers/Ravens game.  But that was back when both teams played in the now defunct AFC Central Division.  These days, the game doesn’t generate nearly as much excitement.  But it’s still a game that the Steelers have to win.

The Titans have a woeful 1-4 record, and have struggled on both offense and defense.

On offense, Tennessee’s star running back Chris Johnson is having one of the worst seasons of his career.  He’s averaging only 42 yards per game.  That’s 2.9 yards per carry.   His longest run of the season is only 19 yards, and he has no touchdowns.  That’s not the Chris Johnson that Titans fans are used to seeing.

To make matters worse, the Titans are without their starting quarterback Jake Locker, who is out with a shoulder injury.  Veteran QB Matt Hasselbeck will start in his place.

On defense, the Titans are even worse.  They have the 29th ranked defense in the NFL, and they seem incapable of stopping either the run or the pass.    Their opponents have scored an average of 36.2 points against the Titans, as the Titans’ defense has allowed an average of 423 yards per game.  There are high school teams that would have given up fewer yards against the teams that the Titans have played.

The Titans give up 144 yards per game on the ground, which should make Rashard Mendenhall very happy.  And they’ve allowed 12 touchdowns passes, which is 2nd worst in the league.  That should make Ben Roethlisberger even happier.

But the Steelers aren’t without their own challenges.  Playing in Tennessee is never easy.  More importantly, the Steelers will be without LaMarr Woodley and Troy Polamalu.  Both players suffered injuries in the Steelers’ win over the Philadelphia Eagles last week.

I anticipate the Steelers will keep their offense balanced to keep the Titans guessing.  They should have success in both the running game and the passing game.  This balanced attack should prove to be too much for the Titans.

I predict that the Steelers will win this game.  The final score will be 31-16.

Go Steelers!

The Steelers travel to Oakland to face the Raiders this week.  Despite their 0-2 record, the Raiders shouldn’t be taken lightly.

Oakland has always been a tough place to play.  Their fans are loud, passionate, and sometimes violent.  In fact, Oakland is one of only 2 NFL cities in which I’m reluctant to go into their stadium wearing the opposing team’s jersey (Philadelphia is the other city).

But more important than the stadium is the fact that on any given Sunday, any NFL team can beat any other NFL team.  The last time the Steelers traveled to Oakland and took them lightly, they lost the game.

Both teams are going to have challenges on Sunday.

For Oakland, the biggest challenge is going to be keeping up with the Steelers’ wide receivers.  Oakland jettisoned most of their cornerbacks during the offseason (don’t ask me why).  That’s actually how we picked up DeMarcus Van Dyke.  Of the cornerbacks that they retained, starters Ron Bartell (broken shoulder blade) and  Shawntae Spencer (sprained foot) are both out with injuries.  So they’re going to be starting a bunch of anonymous backup cornerbacks.  It’s difficult for a team with good cornerbacks to defend against the Steelers’ passing game.  This bunch has almost no chance.    They’re so depleted at the position that they’ve had starting safety Michael Huff practicing at cornerback.   Hopefully, Todd Haley is planning on passing early and often.

The Raiders have challenges on offense as well.  Right tackle Khalif Barnes is injured and won’t play on Sunday.  But more importantly, Running back Darren McFadden has struggled this year.  He has 26 carries for only 54 yards.  That’s only 2.1 yards per carry.  That’s about the same as the Steelers have been getting from Isaac Redman.  And we all know that’s not good.

But the Steelers aren’t without their own challenges.  Injuries continue to be a problem for them as well.  Both James Harrison and Troy Polamalu are going to miss Sunday’s game.  And on offense, Rashard Mendenhall still isn’t ready to go.

Despite the weakness of the Raiders’ cornerbacks, the Steelers are still going to have to get their running game going.  They’ve only been averaging 70.5 yards per game, and they rank 30th in the NFL in rushing.  But last week Reggie Bush ran for 172 yards against the Raiders, so perhaps the Steelers’ running backs can exploit their run defense too.

I predict that Big Ben is going to have a big game, and that the Steelers are going to leave Oakland with a win.  A final score of 28-10 sounds about right.

Go Steelers!