Pittsburgh Steelers 2010 Offseason Positional Review - The Quarterbacks
by Michael Bean on Feb 1, 2010 2:46 AM EST
45 comments
Onward with our breakdown of the Pittsburgh Steelers roster as the 2010 offseason gets underway.
Other positional reviews: Tight Ends, Wide Receivers, Running Backs
Age and 2009 Stats: 27 years old; 337 passing attempts, 506 completions (66.6%), 4,328 yards, 26 TDs, 12 INTs, 100.5 passer rating
Contract Status: Signed through 2016
2009 Analysis: In many respects, Roethlisberger had his finest professional season in 2009. His interception numbers were down, his TDs up, and in the first half of the season at least, he looked more in command of the offense and more in tune mentally with what was unfolding in front of him than ever before. Big Ben's 4,328 passing yards dusted his previous best of 3,513 back in '06. His 26 TDs were the second most of his career, while his interception % of 2.4 marked a personal best.
For the fourth time in as many years, Roethlisberger was battered and bruised by opposing defenses. He was sacked 50 times in '09, tied for the most of any quarterback in the league with Aaron Rodgers. Those 50 sacks resulted in 348 lost yards - also the most in the NFL. Of course, the debate raged on all year about just how many of Big Ben's sacks were the result of him holding on to the ball too long. I'm in the process of downloading all of this year's games and plan to take another look myself, but I think it's fair to say that Ben's tendency to hold on to the ball cost the Steelers on several occasions. I know, you have to take the good with the bad, but the bottom line is, in my opinion: it's nice to know that Big Ben can make huge plays in the passing game by making would-be tacklers miss in the backfield while his receivers break free down field, but it's not something he can count on pulling off so frequently. Look at the two quarterbacks still playing this season - the two best in the league right now - they make their living by getting the ball out extraordinarily quickly. Manning was sacked just 10 times in '09; Brees 20. And no, their offensive lines aren't that much better than the Steelers'.
Anyway, I'd imagine that Roethlisberger wouldn't consider his 2009 season to be a success merely because the team didn't play up to their potential in the win column. Maybe so, but it's easy to forget just how special he was for large parts of the season. His performances against San Diego, Denver, Green Bay and even Miami were all outstanding. He was very, very good in several other games that the defense couldn't close, but it's only fair to mention that he was guilty of turning the ball over at inopportune times in several of those defeats.
2010 Outlook: I'm particularly interested to see what kind of evolution, if any, we'll see to the Steelers offense in 2010. Gone is quarterbacks coach Ken Anderson; same with Larry Zeirlein. As for Bruce Arians, he retains his job for 2010, but I wonder if he'll have the same control next season. We've already heard the Rooney clan mention the Steelers will be getting back to their old smash-mouthed ways. We'll see if Arians is able to pull that off. As for Ben, he has a nice track record of bouncing back from disappointing years. He set career highs in 2007 following the '06 fiasco. Though I'd hardly consider '09 a fiasco, I do think he'll go in to next year with a similar chip on his shoulder.
Age and 2009 Stats: 25 years old; 12 passing attempts, 26 completions (46.2%), 145 yards, 1 TD, 1 INT, 60.6 passer rating.
Contract Status:
2009 Analysis: Dixon almost cemented his name in to Steelers lore by leading the team to victory on the road against the rival Ravens. It wasn't meant to be though, as the Steelers lost in overtime after Dixon was picked off on a pass that he telegraphed. Still, Dixon was a pleasure to watch that night. His long TD scamper in the 4th quarter had me out of my seat going crazy. Same with his TD strike to Santonio Holmes in the 1st. Both were great plays by him and both had me thinking 'oh my, we may actually pull this one out!'
It's too bad Dixon cost the Steelers with his pick. You could see just how badly he wanted to win and just how awful he felt after the game. I was impressed by the competitive spirit he showed that night that's for sure and feel much, much better about the team's chances if he were forced in to action in 2010.
2010 Outlook: What can you say? Hopefully Dennis DIxon won't play in 2010. That's not to say I don't want to watch him guide our beloved Steelers. Quite the contrary actually. I'd find it enormously gratifying I think to watch the underdog potentially lead the Steelers to success. I'd just prefer our 2-time Super Bowl champion quarterback to stay healthy and hopefully bring home Lombardi number seven. We'll see what happens with Dixon's future in Pittsburgh beyond 2010. He's set to become a free agent that year and could very well land elsewhere if he were thrust in to action next year and performs well. I do think it's perfectly safe to assume that Dixon will be the team's #2 QB in 2010, even if the organization were to bring Charlie Batch back for one more year.
Charlie Batch
I'm going to skip the details and get right to the point with regards to Batch. He's not currently under contract with the Steelers. He's coming off a 1-year deal in which he took a fairly significant pay-cut from his previous contract. I'd imagine the Steelers will bring him back if Batch wants to return and retire a Steeler - which I believe he does. I think it'd be understood that Batch would be the #3 option on gameday, but that doesn't mean the team couldn't get some value from his presence in the meeting rooms each week. I know Batch is a competitor, but I have to believe he knows he's a shell of himself physically. I'd be surprised if he really wants to prove he can still play by signing as a backup with some team that has a shaky QB situation. My guess instead is that he'll stay in Pittsburgh where his family is settled and where he's made quite a connection and difference in the community.
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what the hell
someone delete that junk off
Hey great analysis on our QB. You have to take the good and the bad with Ben. There were countless times i threw a couch pillow at the wall when he will get sacked because of holding the ball too long.
Dixon played a hell of a game against the Ravens. I was traveling down 1-95 when they were playing. Passed by the stadium too. I thought we were going to pull it out too and what a boost of confidence it would have been for him.
hell yes
I saw that game on tv. Dixon did all we could have asked for. I think he would have pulled it off if he had practiced 1st team offence all week.
by Cold_Old_Steelers_Fan on Feb 1, 2010 8:50 AM EST up reply actions
no doubt ben will be cut this offseason as the steelers pursue trade talks for vick
and i fully except O’donnell to be brought in as a QB consultant
the good news is that dixon will be a RFA so even if he does do well next year, the steelers will have him for at least one more year if they want.
and in all seriousness i expect batch to retire this offseason. i really dont think the steelers can relay on such an injury prone qb even as a #3 anymore. he’s been an amazing backup tho
Draft Bradford
BPA
"When my time on earth is gone, and my activities here are passed, I want they bury me upside down, and my critics can kiss my a**!"
-Bobby Knight
ben
So can someone tell me what the difference is between manning and brees why they can get the ball out so fast and therefore not get a sack is it the way they play. are they smarter. do they have better receivers who get open faster. or is it just the fact that arians is a moron and can’t devise screens and dump off passes. oh wait sorry he did throw in the wide receiver screens (lmao). alot of people blame ben so much and sometimes he does deserve it but when you got three guys on you its a little hard to throw it away and maybe he just isn’t sure which times he will get away from the rush and which times he will get sacked and by then its too late.
I'm with you on the lack of screen passes...
But you can’t honestly say that at no time were our HB’s going out into the flats as receivers. They were.
Ben doesn’t hit checkdowns nearly as much as he could. That’s the difference between Ben and Peyton and Drew. They read the play quicker and get the ball out to a hot receiver. Ben stands there and waits for something that may or may not come.
'I’ve learned to become a flat-liner. There’s a lot out there that’ll make your heart jump if you allow it."
-Coach Tomlin
by NYSteelersFan4 on Feb 1, 2010 11:17 AM EST up reply actions
Those guys work more with timed routes
that’s my amateur understanding of the difference, at least with Manning. Haven’t watched the Saints closely at all, so i can’t say if they use timing routes….and I don’t know that aspect of the game well….but I like Brees and glad he came back from that shoulder.
Ben must master the concept of throwing the ball away
Better to have an incompletion than a sack, particularly on first and second down or when we are in field-goal range.
7
As long as the Steelers have Ben Roethlisberger they will contend for the Lombardi. He is a winner.
I am hoping that Dixon can have a good preseason and snatch the #2 spot from Charlie. Batch would be a good #3, holding the clipboard and being available in an emergency.
When You Run The Ball Good Things Happen
Batch
I’d bring batch back as a coach in some capacity. He got some type of bone problem. I mean he breaks very easily. If you remember every time he came in he got hurt. He has the knowledge but not the ability.
Hard Work Pays Off!!
Dixon
What a pick to have on the team. I mean Dixon helps Ben play at a high level and he does not have to worry about getting hurt. Dixon will start someday and win many games for us. While Ben heals up.
Hard Work Pays Off!!
hold up
we dont want ben hurt. Dixon might start and if its for us hopefully It’ll be a 2 or 3 game stretch. We need Ben to be healthy
i'm hoping we can hold onto dixon for the post ben days
with his style of play it could come any day
I was watching Manning in his last game
Remember the opening series? He had one play where a single LB got through the line and was running to him. Manning instantly dived for the easy sack/loss, even though the LB eventually was blocked. Manning was down on the ground in the fetal position for 1 or 2 seconds before anyone touched him.
At the time, I thought ‘wow, manning really shies away from contact’, but that’s another reason why he’s such a superior player. He knows if he gets his head rattled with a jarring hit, it will throw off his game, or worse, remove him from the game. He’d rather be sacked than take a Kurt Warner style shot to the head. Ben just doesn’t care about his health too much. He thinks he can take shots all day (and he can now, but he wont be able to continually do this.) I’m afraid one of those guys is going to hit himn hard from a blindside and really do some damage.
Can you remember (I am dating myself)
when there was a knock against Franco Harris for stepping out of bounds all the time instead of running people over, as if he were scared or not tough. That assessment didn’t last.
Just because you could, doesn’t mean you should.
Adrian Peterson needs to learn that
Or else his career will end prematurely
by StoneColdSteel on Feb 1, 2010 8:46 PM EST up reply actions
That crap about Franco
was largely fueled by a petty and jealous Jim Brown. He even threatened to make a comeback (despite the fact that he was in his late 40s) with the Raiders if Franco got his record. I’ve had little use for Mr. Brown since.
"Never mistake motion for action." - Ernest Hemingway
Knocks against Bradshaw
5020 posted a link..check it out
Post game from SB IX…a few words from Art, and then there is postgame with Bradshaw, and they ask him if the criticism of his play would end. Very interesting to think, this guy would go on to three more rings….
Jim Brown, ..ehh
Peyton looks like a wooly worm the way he lays down and curls up and quivers
I tell my brother-in-law from Indy that Peyton should be renamed Wooly Worm. Jumping to the ground and curling up when he sees a big man run near him is a disgrace. I hope we never have a QB in black and gold who carries sack prevention to that extreme.
Great analysis Blitz. I would also like to know how many of Ben’s long ball-hold sacks occur on third down. On third down you really are not risking much with a sack, given that risking the sack allows Ben’s great playmaking skills to give you many downfield dividends. Taking a 10 yard sack on third down still means you punt. A dump off pass or throw out of bounds also means you punt. With offenses moving down the field so easily these days, giving up the the extra 10 yards of field position don’t mean as much. Ben’s escapablility on 3rd downdrives defenses nuts. And therefore I take Ben over Peyton in a big game if they are both facing a good pass rush.
Good point buddy.
I agree that WHEN you take a sack is an important consideration. I think those of us who throw couch pillows watching Ben do so on first and second down sacks that kill drives, or when he takes a third down sack that moves us out of field goal range.
If I was designing a defense against Ben, I’d do what the Bengals and Browns did in our second games with both of them: tight press coverage on our receivers, and pressure up the middle designed to quickly “get in Ben’s face.” The Bengals seemed to be less intent on sacking him. Their linemen were putting their hands up and blocking passes.
I’m not sure it makes sense to expect Ben to emulate Peyton Manning. I doubt Ben will ever be as good at reading defenses as Manning, and the quick passing game isn’t Ben’s preferred style. It’s also not OUR preferred style, since Indy’s running game is practically non-existent. There are other, more Steeler-like and Ben-like ways to beat what we saw in Cleveland. Better O line play is a place to start, as is a strong running game. But also roll-outs and screens. As others have observed on this site, our screens to running backs usually look pitiful. Given the skill set of our QB, we should be using screens frequently. Now that we have a burner like Mike Wallace, imagine Ben destroying press man-to-man coverage by rolling out, giving him time to heave the deep ball to MW! I’d love to see us complete a few of those early next season.
The QB is the most important piece in a championship team
Why would you risk losing him to an injury because you don’t want him to fall down whenever a pass rusher is in his face? It might be a pansy move to some, but it works. I don’t think he’s missed a start in his entire career.
by StoneColdSteel on Feb 1, 2010 8:50 PM EST up reply actions
It is a little like losing the queen in 5 moves
Makes you look shallow minded. As for Peyton, 209 consecutive starts (incl playoffs) is only about 100 less than Favre. If Peyton was hit half as much as Ben is, I don’t think he would have such a streak. Ben’s real gift is his durability; if he can learn to take a gentle sack now and then instead of the body slamming hits (he seems to take a dozen of those per year) he would have a good chance of being around for a long time. This is the best QB we’ve had since Bradshaw, would be a shame if he lasted less than 8 years.
Mel the roll outs and screen sound essential
Mel,
I like your idea of making them pay downfield when they blitz bis on first down. Arian did have Ben roll right and throw long to Wallace against Green Bay if I recall. I also think we should use the a big blitz on first down as an opportunity to dump it to Mendy with some green in front of him. Arians loves the short pass to Hines behind the line to let Hines run behind other receivers blocks. BUt Mendy is showing that he can really burst up field and throw moves that freeze a linbacker much better han Hines. Plus the quijck pass to Rashard in the flat is safer. I would like that to be a very big part of our blitz read.
The thing about Ben and holding too long....
Is that defenders have a new trick of wrapping up his right arm before even attempting to tackle. Ben is going to have to alter something this off-season. I think we might get our wish about check downs going into the main offensive strategy next year.
We increased our offensive production by 1,000 yards but our points by only 3 touchdowns?
-Johnny_S
Who Dey?
JETS DEY!
Good eye
and if the coaches and BB are smart, they will have an adjustment to compensate, as per your suggestion about checkdowns.
If Ben starts playing smart as much as athletic/talented, there can be no argument when considering who the 5 top tier QBS are. Right now, its hard to completely defend…this would seal it.
In fact, it is almost
otherworldly…
"You learn more in failure than you do in success." - Mike Tomlin
by momma rollett on Feb 1, 2010 4:00 PM EST up reply actions
How many sacks would BB have if he hit the ground everytime a blocker broke thru the line early. 100?
He holds the ball too long on all of the 3-28 plays he makes.
Real double edged sword/chicken and egg stuff.
If you buy a foreign made product you give money to a person who will not be buying an American made produdt that you get paid to make. Think about it next time you're at the store.
If you want to see a lot of Dixon in Black and Gold.
Watch this years pre season he’ll get like 80% of the snaps.
I hope they sign him this spring so he can be a nice trade bait in 2011.
If you buy a foreign made product you give money to a person who will not be buying an American made produdt that you get paid to make. Think about it next time you're at the store.
I would like to see Dixon play
in a specialty package, maybe 2-3 snaps per game, with a rollout run/pass option. If he is #2 QB, he can sub in and out any time. This package would force the other team to game-plan against two quarterbacks, and it could result in some big plays, like the Dixon TD in Baltimore.
Don't foresee Dixon leaving anytime soon.
Roethlisberger knows that he risks the big hit when he holds onto the ball for long periods. That’s just how he plays and has played the game. And we should expect Ben’s not going to change what he does next season. That being said, it’s just a matter of when Ben will get the next hit that will put him on the sidelines for untold weeks.
The future, whether 2, 3, or 4 years down the road is obviously paved for Dennis Dixon in Pittsburgh – or should be. I cannot envision a scenario in which the Steelers’ brass would let Dixon walk after next season. He may be nice trade bait, but the risk is two-fold. One that you’d trade him for an unknown draft crapshoot, and the second is that when you needed a quality back up, there may not be one available at a reasonable price.
by SouthBaySteelers on Feb 1, 2010 8:34 PM EST reply actions
Ben's the man.
As long as he’s in Pittsburgh, we’ll always be competitive. Still, there’s no reason why he should be taking 50 sacks per season. Even as tough as he is, Ben won’t last long if this keeps up. If he can learn to dink-and-dunk occasionally, instead of always going for broke, he’ll be even more effective.
Gotta love Dixon. I think the guy is a future starting QB in the NFL, but not for the Steelers.
+1
'I’ve learned to become a flat-liner. There’s a lot out there that’ll make your heart jump if you allow it."
-Coach Tomlin
by NYSteelersFan4 on Feb 2, 2010 9:40 AM EST up reply actions
Dixon > Leftwich every day
Dennis Dixon needs to be the starter for when Big Ben is out. he’s shown his capabilities in throwing and running with the ball which is more than can be said for Ben. sure leftwich has more steelers experience but dont forget dennis dixon almost pulled off beating our rivals in his FIRST career start. i really hope tomlin makes the right choice
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