PSR Showdown - How will the Steelers fare without Ben?
By PSR Staff | Wed, 09/08/2010 - 08:05
They'll Be Fine
By Jerry DiPaola, Pittsburgh Tribune-Review
Imagine, if you dare, the Steelers without Ben Roethlisberger.
Six years ago, Vann McElroy, the agent for Roethlisberger’s predecessor Tommy Maddox, had no trouble dreaming.
McElroy claimed in the days leading up to the 2004 draft that the Steelers really wanted to take an offensive tackle (Bill Cowher liked Arkansas’ Shawn Andrews) and would have gladly extended Maddox’s contract in lieu of using the 11th overall choice on a quarterback.
Of course, it never happened that way because the Steelers were smart enough to detect a champion in Roethlisberger – at least in terms of what he could do on the field.
Two Super Bowls and two rape allegations later, the Steelers will start the 2010 season like McElroy believed they should have in 2004 – with Roethlisberger somewhere else.
How will the team react without their franchise quarterback? The answer may be found in how the Steelers would have done if they had not drafted him in the first place.
The 2004 draft was not a treasure chest of quarterback riches, excluding Eli Manning, Phillip Rivers and Roethlisberger. A total of 14 were selected after the Steelers made their choice and only Virginia’s Matt Schaub (third round, Houston) has been successful.
If they did not draft Roethlisberger, the Steelers might have been forced to re-sign Maddox, and what a disaster that would have become. In the real world, Maddox was out of football by 2006, released by the Philadelphia Soul of Arena Football. Those fifth and sixth Super Bowl trophies would be in someone else’s trophy case.
That’s how important Roethlisberger was—and is—to the team that has given him a second chance.
Today, the situation isn’t that bad because Roethlisberger will return after four games.
Meanwhile, another slow of foot, strong-armed quarterback—Byron Leftwich—will man the position while coach Mike Tomlin tries to minimize the potential damage.
The Steelers aren’t as good as they were in ‘04 – the line is weaker, the defense older. But the schedule is manageable, and Roethlisberger will take over a 2-2 team when he returns.
Under the circumstances, that’s the best anyone can expect.
Better Than Fine
By Kenneth Torgent, Pittsburgh Sports Report
For most of the offseason, this very question has been phrased as: “Will the Steelers miss Ben?” That question carries with it a double-meaning. Of course the Steelers will miss Ben Roethlisberger.
How can a team not miss a two-time Super Bowl-winning franchise quarterback?
The second meaning of the question is what matters, of course. Can the Steelers win without Ben?
Absolutely.
Any discussion on this topic starts with the backup quarterbacks and the Steelers have two pretty good ones in Byron Leftwich and Dennis Dixon. Throw in the experienced Charlie Batch, and Pittsburgh is lucky to have three competitors playing well while trying to win the job; unlike Arizona, who will have to pick the lesser of two evils as their starter.
Leftwich and batch have veteran experience; Dixon fits better and is more athletic. None can carry a team on his back, but the great thing about playing quarterback for the Steelers is that you don’t have to.
Rashard Mendenhall is in position to become one of the league’s elite running backs. Aaron Smith and Troy Polamalu return to a defense which seems to be fixing its biggest weakness, cornerback, with the return of Bryant McFadden and the emergence of Keenan Lewis.
It’ll be another ho-hum low-scoring slugfest each and every week as the defense dominates, the running game rolls, and the quarterback stays out of the way.
That’s Pittsburgh football. That’s winning football.
It’s the same formula that won the team six Super Bowls and carried rookie backup-turned-starter Ben Roethlisberger to a 15-1 record in 2004.
The schedule isn’t that daunting, either. Winnable road games against Tennessee and Tampa Bay. Home stints against Atlanta and Baltimore, a team Dixon almost beat last year in his first start ever on two days of practice.
Roethlisberger will return in Week 6 to find his team in the playoff hunt as usual, thanks to the running game and the defense. That’s how the Steelers always operate; probably because it always works.
