I’m glad you had the insight (although I personally think Stevie Wonder could see this) as well as the courage to call Big Ben (BB) god-send on the carpet. I’m a BB fan, really, but I literally cringe every time he drops back to pass, especially when he doesn’t move out of the pocket or knows when to tuck the ball and run “smartly” for a first down, smartly being knowing when to get his head down and slide. It boggles my mind how someone with his natural athletic gifts doesn’t use them. He also has a great arm, but for whatever reason, he and his receivers can’t consistently seem to get on the same page, at least when he tries to throw from the pocket.

I agree that BB could be an elite quarterback (QB), but it seems to me that he suffers from the same problem that ultimately (I gotta say it) brought down Kordell Stewart, which is trying to be a pure pocket passer. That’s just not BB’s strength. It seems like he and others (maybe it’s the commentators) think that you are not a good QB if you can’t stay in the pocket and throw the ball. If you are making big pass plays, what difference does it make whether you are making the plays sitting in the pocket or throwing on the run if you have the capability to throw well on the run, which BB has statistically shown he is ten times better at doing? I think this is a classic case of if you don’t look and act like Tom Brady (TB) and Peyton Manning (PM), you are not a good QB. TB and PM are definitely great QBs, and they are also exceptional pocket passers with laser rocket arms and pinpoint accuracy. Again, BB seems to have the arm strength, but I’m not seeing the accuracy, at least not consistently, especially when throwing from the pocket. TB and PM also have great offensive lines, which the Steelers don’t have, and they have no-kidding big play receivers that they are on the same page with, i.e. Randy Moss and Wes Welker for TB, and Marvin Harrison, Reggie Wayne and Dallas Clark for PM. Hines Ward is a great possession receiver, as is Heath Miller, and when you have a a great defense, good running game and run a ball control offense with a few timely trick plays built in, which is Steeler football at its best, having great possession receivers is the perfect complement. Nate Washington and Santonio Holmes both have big play potential, but neither seems to be consistently on the same page with BB when it comes to pass plays of more than 20 yards. If the Steelers have to pass more because the running game just isn’t working, which hopefully won’t be the case during the playoffs this year, I believe BB could be much more successful with Nate and Santonio running quick slants and fade routes, i.e. more of a west coast style offense. Santonio has the speed to take a 10-yard slant the distance if BB can hit him in stride in the open field, and on the fade route, Nate has an obvious size and speed advantage over any defensive player he would face that allows BB to throw the ball a little high and long and let Nate jump up and get the ball.

I also notice that BB does really well with the no-huddle and calling plays at the line, but either he or Bruce Arians, whoever is making the decision, waits until the Steelers are behind or in a crisis situation to use the no-huddle. You can almost set your watch by when BB is going to go to the no-huddle based on whether the Steelers are winning or losing and whether the game is in the first quarter or fourth quarter. This is what I mean when I say the Steelers are too predictable offensively and don’t use what they have. I’m no offensive genius, so if I can figure this out, why can’t Bruce Arians (BA)?

Speaking of BA, I have to disagree with you when it comes to not putting the majority of the blame for the team’s offensive woes on him. Yes, the offensive line has its problems, and when the offensive is having the same problems week after week and you do nothing about it, that squarely falls on the coach in my opinion. If Colon and Staples keep screwing up week after week, do something coach!!! Do you not have any other offensive linemen on your team, and if you don’t have anyone who can do better, then how about at least talking to Coach Tomlin (although Coach Tomlin himself should be able to figure it out) and the Rooney family and say, hey guys, do you think we can possibly either call up one of the guys from the practice squad and give them a try, or if that doesn’t work, try to pick up an experienced offensive linemen on the free agent market the way the Ravens picked up Willie Andersen?

Last comment I will make is on your point about Bryon Leftwich, aka Lefty. I agree that Lefty seems to function much better in Bruce Arians’ offense then Ben does. Lefty is pretty much a pure pocket passer (save for his rumbling, bumbling, stumbling 8 yard TD run against the Browns), but he also knows to get rid of the ball, hit the receivers in stride, not take sacks or throw interceptions. Again, it seems like Lefty plays to his strengths, which is why during games where he has had to step in with minimal reps, he does well and the offense seems to play better. This is what happens when you give a good (heck, even an average) QB some legitimate offensive weapons to work with, and therefore, this is why I am so hard on BA and BB. If Lefty, who just came on the scene in Pittsburgh this year and has had to come in off the bench to save the day, can figure out how to properly utilize the plethora of offensive talent the Steelers have, why can’t BA and BB? If BB is truly healthy and ready to play, then he should start, but if he starts stinking it up, i.e. after the third fumble and/or interception or if the Steelers fall more than 14 points behind, whichever comes first, if I were Coach Tomlin, I would not hesitate to sit BB down and put Lefty in to save the day again, and if Lefty has to come in and leads the Steelers to victory, then I would reward him by starting him in the AFC Championship Game.

Thanks again A-Train for the thought-provoking posts. Keep them coming. Go Steelers!

I too am a BB fan, however it is eerie how the offense clicks when Byron has been in there.

Could you please limit the reposting of the same rant to less than 2 times a week. And maybe trim the wordages down to like under 2000.

The reason Byron makes it click, is because it is a psychological thing with the Defense. We have had solid backups in batch and lefty. But when a backup QB comes in, defenses sorta slack off. I believe they kind of think they are gonna win and stop caring.

Then, the good Backup catches them by surprise.

But then, when the defense says “ok we gotta play this backup like hes the real deal,” the backup now has full confidence, and runs full steam ahead.

If the defense simply had played their same level of aggression from the start of the backup taking over, he does no better.

I’m surprised at your response. I couldn’t disagree with you more about what defenses do when they see the back-up. If that’s true did our boys hold off on the browns because they had a back up in? I don’t think so. You seem to forget that these guys are being paid and are professionals, I can’t even think of a defense slacking off because a back-up is in. Your statement also doesn’t do justice to BL, he has been a starter in this league, his team has won in this league and he has taken a team to the playoff in this league, give him SOME credit. My point was that in the limited time that he has played the offense seems to function somoother and more crisp. No harm no fioul.

and have tried to defend him against every negative post, but even I have to agree that if BB comes out next Sunday making poor decisions and turning the ball over, a change in QB must at least be considered. Why do I say this? Because BB has a history of concussions. Let’s take a closer look:.

    On June 13, 2006, BB was involved in a near fatal motorcycle accident. He suffered concussion #1 (that we know of. The Steelers don’t always release info on concussions.) Many people thought BB shouldn’t rush it back. He did. He played in every preseason game. Right before the season was set to start he required an emergency appendectomy (which may have been realted to said accident), causing him to lose a bunch of weight and missing the first game which we won.

Again, fans were saying maybe BB should rest some more. He came back in week 2. We lost three straight games. We were 1-3. In week 5 against the Chiefs, it finally looked like BB had shaken off the concussion . He completed 13 of 15 passes for 224 yards and two touchdowns and had a perfect 158.3 passer rating in the first half alone. He had pass plays of 28, 47 and 50 yards after having just two longer than 25 yards in the first three games and did not throw an interception. We won 45-7.

     The next week we played Atlanta. BB was having another great day. He was 16 of 22 for 238 yards 3 TDs 0 INTs. That was until the middle of third quarter when he got sacked and suffered concussion #2. We wound up up losing in OT after Nate Washington was called for an offsides while Jeff Reed was lining up for the game winning field goal in regulation. Washington supposedly flinched and there was a ten second run off sending the game into OT.

      Again, there was a clamor to start Batch, at least for the next game against the lowly Raiders. Give BB some much needed time to heal. Cowher let him come back the next week and we lost . The Raiders finished 2-14 that year, their only other win coming against the 5-11 Cardinals. BB looked terrible that day. He threw four picks and two were returned for a TD (one on the goal line for 100 yds!). We still only loss 20-13.

     At the end of the regular season we needed just one more win to qualifyfor the playoffs. At 9-7, we would have been the #6 seed for the second year in a row and who knows? If batch was in that game against the Raiders, we would have won easily.

     But that was then, and this is now, right? He has two weeks to get healthy, not one, but in ’06 the next week against the Broncos we lost again 31-20. BB had three more picks.

     In short, If BB is healthy and playing mistake free, he is the captain of this ship. But If he isn’t healthy and starts making bad decisions, I see no reason to let the ship go down with its captain. Thoughts????