Steelers Today - A Pittsburgh Steelers blog

This is part 7 in a series evaluating the Steelers’ off-season needs.  So far, we’ve looked at the cornerbacks,  safeties, linebackers,  defensive linemen,  offensive linemen, and tight ends.    The next position that we’re going to look at is quarterback.

It wasn’t that long ago that I would have told you that it was silly to even talk about the quarterback position.  I would have said that Ben Roethlisberger was the most secure player on the entire Steelers roster.  But now, I’m not so sure.

Don’t get me wrong.  I don’t think the Steelers are going to trade Roethlisberger.  And I definitely don’t think they’re going to cut him.  But I once believed  there was 0% chance of either of those things happening, but now I believe there is actually a slight possibility that Ben could be dealt.  Notice I said “slight”.  Slight means less than 5% chance, so I’m not even going to explore that possibility.

Despite the off-field issues that have gotten all of the attention lately, Ben actually had possibly the best season of his career last year.  He established new personal highs for pass attempts and passing yards.  In fact, he exceeded his old record for passing yards by almost 1,000 yards.  He also recorded the second highest QB rating of his career.

QB Ben Roethlisberger

Unfortunately, Big Ben also established a new career high for sacks in a season.  The 50 sacks that he suffered in 2009 were the most in the NFL (tied with Aaron Rodgers).  His 50 sacks were 4 more than Drew Brees, Peyton Manning, and Tom Brady suffered combined.  That’s right, Ben took more sacks than those 3 combined.  Think about that for a moment.  Moreover, think about how valuable Ben would be if he could cut his sack total in half.  Or if he could reduce his sacks to around 15 per year like the three quarterbacks mentioned previously.

Dennis Dixon proved that he is a viable backup for Big Ben last season when he had to start against Baltimore.  Dixon was kept on a tight leash in that game.  I’d love to see the Steelers turn him loose a bit this year.

Charlie Batch recently signed a new contract and will be back as a Steelers back-up quarterback.  Unlike last season, I think Batch will begin this season as #3 on the depth chart.  But I think that both he and the Steelers are comfortable with that idea.

What  should the Steelers do?

Nothing.  That’s right, the Steelers should do nothing.  At least as far as cutting Ben or trading him.

He is the first franchise quarterback that the team has had since Terry Bradshaw.  Franchise quarterbacks are EXTREMELY difficult to come by.  So once you have one, you do everything possible to keep him.  And you definitely don’t cut him or trade him to “send a message”.  You use wide receivers for that (e.g.  Cedrick Wilson and Santonio Holmes).

Don’t get me wrong.  I’m not saying that Ben should get off easy.  Even though he wasn’t found guilty of committing a crime, Ben still embarrassed the organization.  He showed poor judgment, and needs to do better in the future.

The organization has already spoken to Ben in private.  Sternly.  He will also probably suffer a suspension, and lose some money.  Those are things Ben understands.   But after that, I consider the issue to be over.

I don’t believe the Steelers are going to trade Ben.  They’re also not likely to draft a quarterback early in the upcoming draft.  They may take one late to compete for a backup position, but that’s about it.  Therefore, I’m not even going to bother discussing any of the quarterbacks who are available in this years NFL Draft.

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I have tried very hard not to comment on the Ben Roethlisberger situation.  I really didn’t want to talk about the topic at all.  After all, it is more of a tabloid story, and has little to do with football.  But after thinking about it, I realized that I have to talk about it.

For those of you who have been living in a cave, Big Ben has been accused of sexual assault (again).  A woman in Milledgeville, GA (where the heck is Milledgeville?) has accused Big Ben of sexually assaulting her in the restroom of a college bar.

Like the rest of you, i don’t know if Big Ben did it or not.  But regardless of whether he did it or not, this new incident has raised several concerns about Ben.

Ben Roethlisberger & "friends"

Here are a few of my concerns.

Lack of good judgment

Ben seems to like hooking up with the ladies.  He’s a young, handsome, rich, celebrity athlete, so I can completely understand that.  However, Ben has been down this path before.  He should know better.

What was he doing in a college bar?  Ben is 28 years old.  The average college student is 18-22 years old.  Ben is too old to be hanging out on campus.   Besides, Millegeville is almost 100 miles from Atlanta and 40 miles from Macon.  It’s in the middle of nowhere.  So why was Ben there on his birthday?  He could have been in any of the hottest night clubs in Atlanta, but instead he was in a remote college bar.  Why?  Was he fishing for a tenderoni?

Initially it was reported that Ben admitted to having sex with the young lady, but that it was consensual.  Now he claims that they never had intercourse.  This is starting to sound like Bill Clinton-style semantic games.

Regardless of whether it was intercourse or not, why is he having ANY TYPE of sex with a young girl in a college bar?

Ben is a target

Does Ben understand that his wealth and fame make him a target?  He can’t continue to put himself in situations where he is hooking up with total strangers.  He doesn’t know their character or their motivations.  When some women look at Big Ben, all they see is dollar signs.

Perhaps Ben should go back to dating celebrities like Natalie Gulbis or Jamie-Lynn Sigler.  At least then he’ll know that they aren’t after him for his money.

Jamie-Lynn Sigler

Ben is embarrassing people who love him or look up to him

Does Ben realize that he plays for the Pittsburgh Steelers, one of the proudest franchises in all of sports?  Does he realize that the the Rooney family strives very hard to run a classy organization, and that character is very important in their eyes?  Does he realize that Pittsburgh is a blue collar town that likes their players to be wholesome, family-oriented, and hard working?  Think Aaron Smith, Hines Ward, or Troy Polamalu.  The Tony Stark-like millionaire playboy routine really isn’t a good fit in Pittsburgh.  Nor is the repeat offender routine.

Steelers fans have grown tired of Jeff Reed’s off-court antics.  But these accusations against Big Ben make Reed look like a Boy Scout in comparison.

C’mon Big Ben, you’re better than that.  I know you are.

Big Ben doesn’t seem to understand his importance to the team

Possibly the most concerning aspect in all of this is that Big Ben doesn’t seem to realize that he has a team and a town that all depend on him.

Sure, Dennis Dixon did okay in his one start last season.  But he is not a franchise quarterback.  The success or failure of the Steelers does not depend on him.  But it does depend on Big Ben.

Without Ben Roethlisberger, the Pittsburgh Steelers have no hope of returning to the Super Bowl.  None.  He’s that important.

I am old enough to remember the Cliff Stoudt era.  And the Mark Malone era.  And the Bubby Brister era.  And the Mike Tomczak era.  And the Neil O’Donnell era.  And the Kordell Stewart era.  And frankly, I don’t want to go back to those days.

Big Ben is the first franchise quarterback that the Steelers have had since Terry Bradshaw.  And in today’s NFL, it is almost impossible to win a championship without a franchise quarterback.  Just ask the Oakland Raiders.

Ben has to understand that the hopes of a city rest squarely on his shoulders.  He has to be mature enough to bear that burden.  And right now, I’m not sure that he is.

We all hope that Ben is innocent.  But the truth is that none of us really knows.  But one thing that we do all know is that we’re getting tired of hearing Ben Roethlisberger’s name mentioned in the same sentence as the words “sexual assault”.  I just wish that Big Ben understood that the same way that we all do.

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Thank you, God.  Thank you, God.  Thank you, God.  Thank you, God.  Thank you, God.

Okay, now that I’ve got that out of the way, let’s talk about the Steelers’ 37-36 win over the Green Bay Packers.

In a game that unfolded totally differently than most experts predicted, the Steelers kept their playoff hopes alive.  Prior to the game, most experts assumed that a game featuring the Steelers and Packers, two of the best defenses in the NFL, would be a low-scoring defensive struggle.  Instead, it turned out to be a high-scoring offensive shootout.  Who woulda thunk it?

The two teams combined for 973 total yards of offense.  Some “defensive struggle”.

Steelers quarterback Ben Roethlisberger had the best game of his career, passing for 503 yards.  He was 29-46 with no interceptions and 3 touchdowns. 

Hmmmmmm, this looks familiar.

Packers quarterback Aaron Rodgers tried his best to keep pace, finishing with 383 passing yards, 3 touchdowns, and no interceptions.  Rodgers also rushed for a touchdown.

While it was exciting to watch such an offensive shootout, it was a sad day for both defenses.  The Packers surrendered 537 net yards, and the Steelers defense surrendered 436 net yards.  That’s not something that either team will be bragging about.

Despite the positive outcome of the game, a few aspects were still a bit troubling.

Firstly, the Steelers’ secondary continues to look like a high school junior varsity team.  William Gay was burned repeatedly.  Ryan Clark was beat badly on a touchdown.  Tyrone Carter took his fellow defenders out of a play, thus allowing a Packers’ touchdown.  And none of the Steelers secondary looked like they remembered how to tackle.

Secondly, the offense still lacks balance.  The team only ran the ball 19 times.  Meanwhile, they passed the ball 46 times.  Mike Tomlin says that he wants the offense to be balanced.  Well, 19 runs and 46 passes is NOT balanced.

Thirdly, the Steelers had another 4th quarter letdown.  Sure, they walked away with a win, but they allowed the Packers to score 22 points in the 4th quarter.  They had only yielded 14 total point in the first 3 quarters.  So why can’t the defense play a consistent 60 minutes?

Finally, Steelers coach Mike Tomlin made one of the most baffling calls that I’ve ever seen.  After taking a 2 point lead with 4:03 remaining in the game, the Steelers chose to go for an on-sides kick.  Unfortunately, the play failed and the Packers got the ball at the Steelers’ 39 yard line.  In less than 2 minutes, the Packers scored a touchdown and took the lead.

Fortunately for the Steelers, Ben Roethlisberger led a textbook 2-minute drill that was culminated by a touchdown pass to Mike Wallace that looked eerily reminiscent of Roethlisberger’s game-winning pass to Santonio Holmes in Super Bowl XLIII.

Mike Wallace imitates Santonio Holmes

So the Steelers ended their losing streak and kept their playoff hopes alive.

They also got help from several of their AFC rivals who are also fighting for their playoff lives.  Denver, Jacksonville, Miami, and the New York Jets all lost.  Those losses mean that the Steelers are still mathematically in the playoff race.

I think Steeler Nation needs to say one more collective “Thank you, God”.

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Losing can have unexpected effects on a team. Like causing frustrated players to make stupid comments. That’s exactly what Hines Ward did.

Ward, one of the Steelers veteran leaders, made comments in an interview with Bob Costas that I’m sure he’d like to take back.

Ward implied that Big Ben should have played in a game that was as important as the Steelers’ game against the Baltimore Ravens was.  Ward’s frustration seemed to be due to the fact that the team thought that Big Ben was going to play, and weren’t informed until Saturday that he wasn’t.

The video below shows coach Tomlin’s response to Hines Ward’s comments.

From what I can tell, both Hines Ward and Coach Tomlin were at fault in this incident.

Tomlin should have explained to the team exactly why he wasn’t playing Big Ben. Whenever there is a lack of information, people tend to use their imaginations to fill in the vacuum.

Hines Ward was equally culpable. Since, by his own admission, he didn’t have adequate information, he should have kept his mouth shut. Instead, he put his foot in it.

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The Steelers’ schedule is about to get interesting.  On Sunday, they face the undefeated Minnesota Vikings.  Then after a bye week, they must face the currently undefeated Denver Broncos.

Steelers fans have been longing for a true measure of how good their team is.  They’re about to get it.

The last time the Steelers faced two undefeated teams in back-to-back games was in 2004.  The Steelers defeated the undefeated Patriots, ending their 21 game winning streak, and then defeated the undefeated Philadelphia Eagles the following week.  They were the only NFL team in history to ever achieve that feat so late in the season.

Getting a win this week won’t be easy.  The Vikings are a team that is very similar to the Steelers.  In recent years, the Vikings have been a team that primarily depended on a strong running game and strong defense to win games.  However, this year they find themselves with a suddenly potent passing attack led by a brash, gunslinger quarterback.  Sound familiar?

The Vikings’ potent running attack is led by Adrian Peterson, one of the best running backs in the NFL.  Peterson leads the NFL in rushing, and he torched the Baltimore Ravens’ defense for 143 yards last week. Peterson’s combination of size and speed will pose a daunting task for the Steelers’ defense.

After struggling in the passing game with QB Tavaris Jackson for the last several years, the Vikings’ passing attack is suddenly revived after the addition of legendary quarterback Brett Favre.

Vikings QB Brett Favre

Steelers fans know how great a season Ben Roethlisberger has been having so far.  Yet Favre has a higher passer rating and has thrown for more touchdowns than Roethlisberger.  Think about that for a moment.

The Vikings defense was the only defense in the NFL that allowed fewer rushing yards than the Steelers last year.  The Vikings’ run defense ended the 2008 season ranked #1 in the NFL, while the Steelers were ranked #2.

Are you starting to see the similarities between these two teams?

Fortunately, the Steelers are starting to come into their own.  The offense is on fire behind the arm of QB Ben Roethlisberger.  More importantly, the Steelers’ running game is finally starting to show signs of life.

Since inserting Rashard Mendenhall into the starting lineup, the Steelers’ running attack has been noticeably better.  Mendenhall seems to be more capable of getting the tough, short yardage that Willie Parker often struggled to get.

Based on Mendenhall’s performance the past 2 weeks, Steelers head coach Mike Tomlin has decided to name Mendenhall as the starter for the foreseeable future.  “Rashard has earned the right to take the majority of the snaps as we move forward”, said Tomlin.  This is welcome news to many Steelers fans who had been calling for Mendenhall to replace Parker in the starting lineup.

Steelers RB Rashard Mendenhall

While both teams have potent offenses, the real difference in the game should be the Steelers’ defense.  The Steelers defense is among the best in the league.  They are strong against the run and the pass.  Contrarily, while the Vikings defense is stout against the run, they have proven to be vulnerable to the pass.  The Vikings are ranked #24 against the pass.  That’s not a good thing when you are about to face the NFL’s leading passer (I still can’t get used to saying that about a Steelers’ quarterback).

I predict that the Steelers will bring the Vikings winning streak to an end by a score of 24-17.

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