I think you kinda answered your own question there, pal!
Anyway, I’m pretty sure that the Heinz field surface is considered to be the worst field in the NFL to kick on, and Reed is just used to it.
Puh-leeze. He consistently throws the ball on the money when it counts the most. The Holmes catch in the Super Bowl and Wallace’s catch yesterday were examples of his pinpoint accuracy in clutch situations. If he were available, he would easily replace the starting QB for every NFL team except New England, Indy, San Diego, New Orleans or Green Bay. And he’s currently better than Brady and about even with Rivers and Rodgers. Additionally, he’s proven that he can steer a team to a Super Bowl, twice. The only QB that one can reasonably claim is currently better than Big Ben is Peyton. And I’d still trust Big Ben more than Peyton outdoors in January.
I think this is blatant homerism. I’d rather have Brady outdoors in January than anybody else.
And I’d actually rather have Carson Palmer as my team’s QB than Ben, because I personally think Ben is a detestable drama queen.
He’s a winner, no doubt. He’s proven that. I just don’t think he’s as technically gifted as the other QB’s you mentioned. Ben does have the intangibles, though.
I generally hate these kinds of comparisons anyway. I always thought Marino was a better technical QB than Montana, but obviously Joe is considered one of the best ever due to SB wins and clutch play. Being surrounded by supremely talented players on offense and/or defense doesn’t hurt either. That defense has propped up the Steelers on many occaisons.
I don’t think Jules Andre was trying to run down Roethlisberger (not much anyway). I think he’s saying Ben lucky he can get away with playing on the edge likes he does because he’s been surrounded by guys like Ward, Holmes, and Heath Miller who have consistently made nice catches where other QBs might make a similar play only to finish off with a completion. A lot of Ben’s big scrambles have required a perfect pass and a perfect catch to finish them off. Add in time-expiring and the emergence of yet another target for Ben in Mike Wallace and he really has to be the envy of the Donovan McNabbs of the world who for many years could make scrambles like that and then have to throw to the aforementioned Freddie Mitchell or someone. You have to be good to be lucky and all that.
There’s probably a receivers coach somewhere who deserves some of the credit for some of that success.
I think you’re being generous regarding Jules Andre. Otherwise, why bring up Ben’s SB XL QB rating? But hey, I’ll let him speak for himself, and it is the season for being generous.
I think Jules and JJ are both about equally far from the truth with Ben. He’s not a great pure passer, though he is a very good one. Where he is great is in terms of mobility, and that allows him to make the most of his excellent arm strength, good-but-not-great accuracy and mediocre field vision.
If you gave Peyton Manning his feet and lower body strength he’d throw for 6,000 yards every season. Alternatively, if you gave Ben Manning’s accuracy and vision he’d throw for 6,000 yards every season too.
Ben’s biggest weakness is in making quick reads against zone defenses. Fortunately for him Hines Ward excels at finding soft spots against zones, especially early in the game. Now that they finally have Wallace who can break open a zone we’re seeing Ben’s numbers climb.
Have I mentioned yet that I’d still like to see a more balanced attack?
You need to bench Wallace in favor of Sweed.
He reminds me a bit of Randall Cunningham, who kept plays alive with his feet and strong body, which enabled his receivers to get open. Give almost any quarterback enough time, and they’ll find an open receiver. When Ben can buy time by escaping arm tackles and moving around, he’ll generally find a guy open somewhere.
You’d like that, wouldn’t you? Sweed’s done. He drops too many balls, and doesn’t have the presence that Wallace already has. There’s a reason he beat out Sweed for the #3 spot.
L<oo,not every QB can be Peyton Manning, but if you can get a QB the caliber of Ben you really don’t have to worry about the position for 10-12 years and that is a real bonus. Just ask the fans of the Cleveland Browns, Buffalo Bills, Chicago Bears, San Francisco 49ers, etc.
That is why the Packers going to Rodgers is a success, even if Favre wons a Super Bowl. They have a QB they can rely on for the next decade and that makes me feel copmfortable for the future.
I really don’t like their decision to release Shaun McDonald. He’s caught everything we’ve seen thrown at him. Unfortunately those throws have all been in preseason or practice. Sweed’s ability to get open and then drop the pass is worse than useless, it’s demoralizing. They fell in love with his ability to beat coverage but it’s time to cut ties with that loser.
No question, Ben’s a franchise quarterback. He has all the intangibles and leadership we were missing for so many years.
Could the Packers mirror he Steelers any more than they do? Scrambling, frequently sacked QB. Bafflingly inconsistent secondary which hinges around one guy. Strong front seven. Their battered secondary looked the most disturbingly familiar to me. I guess I can’t fault Arians for airing it out all night in that one.
I completely understand the desire to communicate with your target audience with methods they understand, especially for Steeler fans. But you’re making us Packer fans look like poor typing, uncivilized barbarians.
He should have hit someone then. Hines-style. 
I don’t know about that. Charles Woodson may be the star of that secondary but Nick Collins, Tramon Williams and Al Harris are really good players. Atari Bigby is not a really good player - he wasn’t really even fast enough to be a good coverage safety in college - but he hits like a wrecking ball, and has tremendous hair and a better name.
:rolleyes:
Don’t tell me you lost your sense of humor too. Heck, Fooey got that it was just a joke. Maybe it’s the thread and lack of humor is contagious.
I like a lot of those guys, especially Al Harris, but without Woodson they don’t scare a team out of throwing the ball up for grabs any more than the Steelers without Polamalu. Tyrone Carter is our Atari Bigby. I agree he has an awesome name. My kids, Nintendo and Sega, are big fans. 
Ha, yeah. Sweed and our 2nd pick that year WR Jerome Simpson are equally shitty. I still can’t believe we passed on DeSean Jackson in favor of some dude with big hands from Coastal Carolina.
And I’ll never forgive you for that.