I think the ’08 defense was just phenomenal. Not only is Ben more developed and a better QB now, but I believe Tomlin is a better coach than Cowher (Interested to see if I will get flack for that one).

I don’t think the 05 secondary would be able to do much against Holmes unless they had Polamalu play watch on him.

Additionally, if the running game from ‘08 is healthy, it’d be a tough task for 05 to stop the rush and pass, which the pass offense was much better this past year.

But you guys won when it mattered and had something to play for. Last year’s team played as good of football as you possibly could have.

QB – edge 08.

With a few more years of experience there is little doubt that the most recent version of Big Ben would be more effective.

RB/FB – edge 05 (easily).

Fresh legs Parker, versatile 3rd down back Haynes, and a bruising Bus running behind Krieder would easily out preform Parker, Moore, Russell, and Davis. I’m not sure which Parker is more effective. Moore has the edge over Haynes but lets not forget that Haynes could catch and is pretty much just a slightly less effective version of Moore. However, the Bus and Krieder were by far more effective than Russell or Davis.

WR/TE – edge 08.

Ward of 05 is better than the most recent one simply because of age. However, I believe that Holmes is better than Randle El in every way with the exception of returning (though its close) and throwing….I think everyone would take Washington over Cedric Wilson and naturally the more experienced Miller would outperform the rookie Heath.

OL – edge 05.

Hartings and Faneca, need I say more?

DL – edge 05.

This one was a bit tougher….Personally, I think Von Olhoffen (I know thats not spelled right and I’m too lazy to look it up) and Keisel are about even, giving the slight edge to the Von O. However, a younger Hampton is certainly better than the current one who is battling weight issues as well as age. Smith was a beast then and still is so I didn’t really factor him into the equation.

LB – edge 08.

Porter was good (and still is) but him and Haggans weren’t putting up the numbers that Woodley and Harrison are. Farrior was amazing and still is, his age has yet to catch up to him. Foote was about the same, consistent yet unspectacular starter. Timmons brings amazingly quick feet to the LB core that was missing in 05. There was no sub on that squad that can match his effectiveness.

CB – edge 08.

Ike Taylor versus Ike Taylor, give the edge to the most recent one for the experience. Townsend (05) versus McFadden (08)…..hmmm, to me this is a tough one. I’ll give it to the 05 Townsend because he was simply more healthy than B-mac. He doesn’t have the physical ability of B-mac but he was more of a smart corner anyway. Where 08 really excels is the depth. Gay and Townsend are certainly a step above a rookie McFadden and Ricardo C. (not spelling his last name either).

S – edge 08.

Troy is Troy, he was younger back in 05 but right now he is in his prime. So the battle comes down to the FS, them being Clark and Hope. Hope has turned into a solid safety over in Tennessee but when we had him he wasn’t quite up to his potential. Clark however, is. Hes not gonna be All-Pro but he is a perfect compliment to Troy who is at times reckless. Both Clark and Hope were hard hitting safeties but I can’t recall any Hope hits that were like Clark’s on Welker or Clark’s on McGahee.

Coaching – edge 08.

Both Tomlin and the Chin were/are great coaches. But I see Tomlin as more willing to take chances and adjust his game plan to fit obstacles. Cowher was a little too stubborn, and at times that came back to bite him (see 06 season and Big Ben). Lebeau’s 08 D could be considered one of the best in history if not the best. The only category where 05 has the edge is on offense. Wishenhunt was a great play caller and really new how to use what he had and Russ Grimm had a disciplined O-line. I can’t say much about Arians or coach Z (thats right, Im not spelling his name either) that hasn’t already been said.

So, overall, I’d take 08 over 05. Though the running game of 05 really makes it tempting to take them.

…so i ran it as a simulation in madden 08. then i played it twice, once as each squad.

looked up the stats tonight…

sim results: 2005 13 – 2008 14. defensive battle as predicted above. harrison absolutely MOLESTED 05 ben all game, and he blocked an extra point attempt. game mvp. ‘stonehands taylor’ tips an easy int into ryan clark’s hands for a def TD.

me as 08 squad: DOMINATING win, 31 – 7. ben threw like 87 touchdowns for about 11 million yards (according to a drunken fan)!! actual statistics: 30 for 35, 3 TDs, zero picks. defensively, it was like christmas morning – NINE sacks, THREE forced fumbles, FOUR INTs!! we played a lot of base 3-4, troy was mvp with 12 solo tackles, 4 sacks and 2 picks (one for a TD).

me as 05 squad: won, 24 – 21 in OT. i ran the ball enough times with enough success to almost make it worth paying four RBs salaries’. short screen passes actually worked best. we got the ball in OT and FWP (somehow) broke off a 32 yard run on a 2nd and 7 on their 49. ward mvp, 13 catches, 88 yards and 2 TDs.

for argument’s sake, i ‘played fair’ both times and tried to act according to the playcalling tendencies of the relative HCs coaching staffs. i consider myself an above average madden player, with a very high football IQ for a guy who played drums in hs and college instead…

Ok,

A while back I mention a site called what-if sports. (I knew it would come in handy at some point.)

The site allows you to simulate games based on the stats the players accumulated that season and you can put any two historical teams against each other.

So I decided this was a perfect question to use the site for. I decided to do two best of seven series, in each series one team would have the home field advantage throughout the series. So, seven games with the 05’ team having home-field the entire time, and seven games with the 08’ team having home-field the entire time. I was planning on doing a third series at a neutral site (probably three rivers) but surprisingly it was not needed.

Here are the results:

05’ team home field series:

08’ Steelers-(10)<>05’ Steelers(6)

08’ Steelers-(13)<>05’ Steelers(0)

08’ Steelers-(6)<>05’ Steelers(16)

08’ Steelers-(12)<>05’ Steelers(9)

08’ Steelers-(13)<>05’ Steelers(19)

08’ Steelers-(12)<>05’ Steelers(13)

08’ Steelers-(6)<>05’ Steelers(12)

The 05’ Steelers took the Series in 7 games.

08’ team home-field advantage

05’ Steelers-(9)<>08’ Steelers (16)
05’ Steelers-(7)<>08’ Steelers (13)
05’ Steelers-(20)<>08’ Steelers (3)
05’ Steelers-(0)<>08’ Steelers (23)
05’ Steelers-(19)<>08’ Steelers (7)
05’ Steelers-(30)<>08’ Steelers (10)
05’ Steelers-(13)<>08’ Steelers (9)

So the 05’ team took the 08’ team in a best of seven in both situations although both series took seven games to decide. I guess the moral of the story is these teams are pretty evenly matched, with possibly the wild card being Jerome Bettis who was the leading rusher in the majority of games the 05’ team was able to win, especially the closer games where ball control was essential. This is probably part of the reason why steeler fans have been crying for T.J. Duckett since the bus left, and part of the reason why we have such high expectations for Frank “The Tank” Summers.

Since this speculation, can you imagine 08 Ben, Holmes, defense, and the 05 o-line and running backs. What a dream team.