In a very clever entry to SB Nation associate editor Jon Bois' Seismograph feature, the comments made in regards to Steelers quarterback Ben Roethlisberger were tracked during the Steelers vs. Redskins game in Week 8.
The 18 different quarterbacks playing in the early games of Week 8 were evaluated based on a subjective (but obvious) snapshot of comments being made about them on the Open Thread of that quarterback's respective team. Roethlisberger was one of only five passers to land on the "Well Appreciated!" axis.
Roethlisberger finished third overall, behind Atlanta's Matt Ryan and New England's Tom Brady. Detroit's Matthew Stafford finished fourth, and Seattle's Russell Wilson (?) finished fifth.
Bois didn't see a surprise in the top three.
"The well-appreciated quarterbacks. Matt Ryan, Tom Brady and Ben Roethlisberger are elite quarterbacks, and were rightly considered as such."
Interestingly, Roethlisberger's counterpart, Washington's Robert Griffin III, ranked in the "CODDLED SPOILED BABIES!!!!!! (yes, I counted the number of exclamation points) category overall. That category wasn't the worst run of fans' QB hell. That category, labeled "Not Very Appreciated, and Perhaps For Good Reason," is much more diplomatically stated than a reasonable football fan might expect, considering it's comprised of Mark Sanchez, Jay Cutler, Michael Vick, Sam Bradford, Andrew Luck, Phillip Rivers and Cam Newton.
It's fair to point out neither Joe Flacco nor Tony Romo played in the early games. Odds are excellent, if this was done a week earlier, Flacco would have scored the lowest on the axis (Baltimore was on bye), and Romo would have seen a manic swing from low to high based on his performance against the Giants in the late afternoon game.
While at least 14 quarterbacks were not evaluated in this poll, it's interesting to read over the comments in the story. Multiple Kansas City fans commented that no fan base trashes its quarterbacks as much as Chiefs fans do.
It's a nice problem for Steelers fans to not have.