Steelers Today – A Pittsburgh Steelers blog

I don’t usually write about other teams on this website, but this is an exception. The only thing that makes me happier than a Steelers win is a Ravens loss. And when the Ravens get absolutely demolished, well that’s even better than sex.

That is exactly what happened when the Ravens played the Giants. The Giants trounced the Ravens 30-10. The Ravens’ vaunted defense got trampled for 207 rushing yards. That’s right, 207 yards!!! Hahaha, way to go, Ravens. The Giants averaged 6.3 yards per carry against the defense that was #1 in the NFL against the run. In this game that pitted two blue collar teams, the Giants were the hammer, and the Ravens were the nail.

By the way, this is the same Giants offense that met with utter futility when trying to run against the Steelers. Remember how the Steelers repeatedly stuffed the Giants’ run on short yardage situations? Well, that is exactly what the Ravens were unable to do to the Giants. I’ve always felt that the Steelers’ defense was much better than the Ravens, and this game just cemented that belief for me.

The best part of the entire game was watching Ray Lewis get faked out of his shoes by Ahmad Bradshaw, and then watching Bradshaw run the ball 77 yards while Lewis half-heartedly pursued the play. Good effort, Ray. You just cost your team 77 yards.

I hope the NFL Network airs this game again. I think I’ll enjoy watching this one even more the second time around.

James Harrison is the Steelers’ backup long snapper????? WTF???!!!!

Is it just me, or were other Steelers fans completely baffled when James Harrison lined up as the Steelers’ long snapper when Greg Warren went out with an injury? If you had told me prior to Sunday’s game that the Steelers coaching staff would ever use James Harrison as a long snapper in an actual NFL game, I would have accused you of smoking one of Santonio Holmes’ special cigars. But use him they did. Even after the fact, I’m still stunned.

To make matters worse, after James Harrison launched his first (and hopefully last) long snap over punter Mitch Berger’s head, I saw James Farrior warming up on the sidelines to give it a try on the next punt. These are definitely signs of the apocalypse. Repent, for the end is near.

I’ll be the first to admit that I know about as much about long snapping as I do about cold fusion. Nevertheless, I am completely confused by why the Steelers have a linebacker as their backup long snapper. Afterall, they have a guy on their team named Justin Hartwig. You know, the center. The guy who is paid to snap the ball for a living. Sure, he makes his living performing regular snaps, but how much different can a long snap be? Isn’t it pretty much the same as snapping the ball to Ben Roethlisberger while he’s in the shotgun formation? Something tells me that if Hartwig had snapped the ball to Berger, it wouldn’t have gone 10 feet over his head.

Or how about Darnell Stapleton? You know, the undrafted free agent who has worked his way up to Steelers’ starting right guard. He was the starting center for Rutgers while in college. In fact, he was so good at it that he was a finalist for the Rimington Trophy, which is awarded annually to the best center in college. Are you telling me that guy has never snapped the ball to a punter before?

I’ve never been a fan of Steelers offensive line coach Larry Zierlein. This latest debacle just cemented that opinion.

The Steelers were dominating the Giants until the point where Harrison snapped the ball over Mitch Berger’s head for a safety. After that, everything just seemed to change.

I’m not going to blame the loss on that one play. That would be silly. But I sure do wish the Steelers could take that one play back. Don’t you?

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This week, Steelers Today was asked to go head-to-head against New York Giants blog Big Blue View on the Behind Enemy Lines segment of the AOL NFL Fanhouse.

Each blogger had to defend their team as they head into this Sunday’s match-up of division leaders. I think I represented Steeler Nation well. I hope you do too.

Please check out the feature here, and then leave me a message to let me know how I did. Thanks.

Here we go Steelers, here we go!!!

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This week, Steelers Today was asked to be the guest blogger on the AOL NFL Fanhouse. When that article is posted on their site, you will be able to see it here.

In the meantime, one of their questions got me thinking. They asked me who I’d rather have quarterbacking my team, Ben Roethlisberger or Eli Manning. I answered unequivocally and without hesitation, “Big Ben”. Heck, if Eli’s last name weren’t Manning, I don’t think he would have been drafted as high as he was. But that’s just my opinion.

Based on their question, I decided to expound upon my answer and list my top 10 reasons why Ben Roethlisberger is better than Eli Manning. Enjoy:

#10) “Big Ben” has a cooler nickname. In fact, I don’t think Eli even has a nickname. “Little Peyton” maybe? Advantage: Roethlisberger.

#9) Big Ben is bigger. Eli Manning is 6’4″, and weighs 225 lbs. Big Ben is 6’5″ and 241 lbs. This is his slimmed down size. He used to play at about 255 lbs., but he made the conscious decision to play at a lighter weight. Advantage Roethlisberger.

#8) Big Ben is Stronger. Ben Roethlisberger has one of the strongest arms of any quarterback in the NFL. Apparently some scouts have a test they have quarterbacks do wherein the QB has to throw the ball while on his knees. One NFL scout wrote that he saw Ben Roethlisberger throw the ball farther than he had seen just about any other QB throw the ball while on his knees. Sure, NFL quarterbacks don’t often throw the ball from their knees, but it was an interesting observation nonetheless.

Big Ben’s strength also lets him maintain his balance and complete passes while defenders are draped all over him. Just look at the pass that he completed to Hines Ward this year against the Jacksonville Jaguars. There were two defenders trying to drag Roethlisberger to the ground, but he still completed the pass. Eli Manning just isn’t strong enough to do that. Advantage: Roethlisberger.

#7) Big Ben is faster. Not only is Roethlisberger bigger and stronger than Eli Manning, he’s also faster. Roethlisberger uses his speed to scramble and escape defenders. He can either buy time to find his receivers, or he can take off and gain yardage running.

Ben’s superior speed gives him a big advantage versus Eli Manning in gaining rushing yards. In 2007, Ben Roethlisberger rushed for 204 yards. Eli Manning has rushed for 213 total yards during his entire career. Advantage: Roethlisberger.

#6) Roethlisberger has more wins. The ultimate measure of a QB is not how many 300 yard passing performances he has. The true measure of a quarterback is how often he wins. Dan Marino threw for more yards, but Joe Montana has more rings. Dan Fouts threw for more yards, but Terry Bradshaw has more wins. Peyton Manning has thrown for more yards, but Tom Brady has more rings. Which QB in each pair is remembered as being the best? See my point? No matter what era you look at, wins are what matter. When it all comes down to it, winning is the ultimate measure of a QB. It’s like Al Davis once said; “Just win, baby!”

Both Quarterbacks have one super bowl ring in their young careers, so there is no difference in that area. However, when we look at total wins, Ben Roethlisberger has a significant advantage. Ben Roethlisberger has accumulated 45 NFL wins, and a winning percentage of 72.6%. Eli Manning has accumulated 36 NFL wins, and a winning percentage of 57.1%. Advantage: Roethlisberger.

#5) Big Ben dates hotter chicks. Eli Manning recently married his college sweetheart, Abby McGrew.

Roethlisberger is still a bachelor, but he has had very public relationships with golfer Natalie Gulbis and actress Jamie-Lynn Sigler (aka Meadow Soprano).

I commend Manning for his commitment to his long-time girlfriend, but I don’t think there’s much doubt that this round goes to Big Ben. Advantage: Roethlisberger.

#4) Roethlisberger has been to more Pro Bowls. Eli Manning has never been named to a Pro Bowl. Meanwhile, Big Ben made the Pro Bowl last year, and is on his way to making it again this year. Advantage: Roethlisberger.

#3) Roethlisberger has thrown fewer interceptions. Eli Manning has thrown 68 career interceptions. Big Ben has thrown only 57. If not for that terrible 2006 season in which Roethlisberger practically led the league in interceptions with 23, the difference would be far more glaring. Coach Bill Cowher allowed Big Ben to come back much too quickly in 2006 following a motorcycle accident and an emergency appendectomy, and Ben’s performance suffered because of it. Outside of that one terrible season, Roethlisberger has never thrown more than 11 interceptions in a season. Contrarily, Manning has exceeded 15 interceptions on 3 separate occasions. Advantage: Roethlisberger.

#2) Roethlisberger has thrown for more yardage. This statistic is most surprising, since Roethlisberger has always played in a run-oriented offense in which he was often thought of as a mere caretaker. Big Ben has thrown for 12,836 yards versus 12,774 yards for Eli Manning. This disparity is most surprising since Manning has over 400 more pass attempts than Roethlisberger. Advantage: Roethlisberger.

#1) Big Ben has a higher career QB rating. Ben Roethlisberger has a career quarterback rating of 93.0. Eli Manning’s career QB rating is 74.9. The two quarterbacks entered the NFL during the same season, and Big Ben has had a better QB rating in each season except for the aforementioned 2006 season in which Roethlisberger threw more than twice as many interceptions as he has averaged for his career. In that season, their QB ratings were practically identical, though Manning edged Roethlisberger slightly (Manning=77.0 vs. Roethlisberger=75.4). In fact, Roethlisberger’s WORST single season QB rating (75.4) is higher than Manning’s career average (74.9). Last year, Roethlisberger’s QB rating was a full 30 points higher than Eli Manning’s (104.1 versus 73.9). Despite Eli winning the Superbowl, Roethlisberger had a far better season. Advantage: Roethlisberger.

So, as you can see, when we do a head-to-head comparison of Eli Manning versus Ben Roethlisberger, Big Ben wins in a knockout. If Giants fans are honest, I’m sure that they’d admit that the Steelers got the better deal in Roethlisberger. Particularly when you consider that the Giants also traded away a draft pick that ended up being Shawn Merriman in order to get Eli. There is little doubt in my mind that if the Giants could take a mulligan on their 2004 draft, they’d choose Ben Roethlisberger over Eli Manning.

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