The bottom line in the NFL is winning. In his first five seasons, Ben has won more games than any other quarterback in the history of the NFL. His playoff winning percentage is better than everyone other than Brady. He has TWO rings in his first five seasons. Peyton has one. Ben is a proven winner who has come through in the clutch time and time again. Ben stands at the top…..

lets please exclude all Mannings from this conversation because they are nothing but a family of chokers ! Eli has played a handful of good games in his career, he’s just lucky 3 of them were in the play-offs last year. We only need to watch a re-run of this years NFC divisional game against Philly to see what a pathetic figure Manning was .. it was shameful QB exhibition that gave his team no chance of winning, a classic MANNING.

And as for Peyton, a career 7-8 post season record, at least 4 1 & done’s in the post season, a QB rating lower in the post-season than in the regular season, throwing more INT’s than TD’s during his lone Superbowl run, please .. he’s the definition of a CHOKER ..

The Mannings, please …. they make me sick ..

Sorry… if Ben decided to quit tomorrow, he would not make the HOF. He would join Jim Plunkett as a QB with two rings who does not enter the hall.

He was certainly not super in Super Bowl XL. I agree, that we were there BECAUSE of him… but we won it IN SPITE of him.

This Super Bowl was his coming out party. But, Phil Simms had one of those — setting Super Bowl records — and he doesn’t have a ring.

If Ben makes it back and gets another ring, then I think you can say he is a lock — no one with 3 rings isn’t in… But he needs that ring — or a career of close calls from here on out — to get the HOF nod.

As for where he stands… I am not sure. His improvisational skills are great — no doubt. But I think Leftwich exposed some of his flaws. When Byron was in there, he made his reads and decisions much faster. Even with his big wind up and throw, he got rid of the ball much quicker than Ben did. Ben needs to work on that, IMHO.

I think you need to realize that Ben holds on to the ball too long sometimes just because he is unsure of where to go with it. That’s not elite kind of stuff. Philly showed what a good defense can do with constant pressure against Ben.

Having said all of that, in 2007, when he had a passing rating of 104, he looked pretty good. So, it’s really hard to say. If we can ever give him a good line, and a couple of receivers with break-away speed, we might find out how good he can be.

So… my vote is: Too early to tell on Ben. He has shown flashes of greatness — and most importantly, he has shown them when it counts — but it’s too early to say he is “better” than Brady or Manning.

and his place in the Hall of Fame will be determined by the quality of his surrounding cast. He does some great things on his own. However, I see that the good results that come about often come about because of the great things being done simultaneously by the supporting cast-the receiver being smart enough to track Ben and get in position, the lineman who is able to track Ben and get the right block thrown.

Well, I disagree on Peyton’s not being clutch… but I agree his age makes me prefer Ben.

Tom Brady — depends on how he comes back. Palmer “seemed” to come back fine from a simlar injury, but hasn’t been the same since — co-incidence? Maybe… I really don’t like the “Tom is only good because he cheated” thing though. He still made the throws… and his best year came AFTER the whole Spygate thing happened.

Rivers — puts up good numbers and an impressive rating. I don’t like him. Watching Jay Cutler and him jawing at each other made them both look like frat boys.

Romo is vastly over-rated.

But I think you left out one — Drew Brees. He went to New Orleans to help the city, which is pretty cool. And he has been a great leader there on and off the football team. He could have broken Dan Marino’s record of most yards in a season, but he was trying to win the game instead. I think he shows a lot of character and he would have fit in here in the ‘burgh. I wouldn’t trade Ben for him NOW, but he seems like a class act.

I think Ben is a perfect fit in PITTSBURGH. I can’t imagine anyone else here. But if I am making a list of the top five QBs in the league, I don’t have Ben number 1. He’s probably number 3. One thing he has to learn how to do is: A) THROW to beat an all out blitz — running doesn’t work and B) make his decisions faster and get rid of the ball.

That might be his receivers not getting separation fast enough, but part of it is trust. You watch Warner, Peyton, and Brady, and they get the ball out in anticipation of the receiver’s move. It seems like Ben is “looking for someone who is open.”