Ben Roethlisberger Sucks

Ok, I know that you saw the title. Read it again.

Again.

Got it now? I'm sure you do.

Well, I have a little secret for you...

IT'S NOT TRUE!!

I am sick and tired of defending Ben Roethlisberger. I am so tired of feeling like I am on an island surrounded by schools of Ben hating sharks. It's frustrating, really. Let's look at this methodically.

If I bore you with the statistics, please skip over them if you must, but I warn you, they’re important.

Ben Roethlisberger is a fifth year player and fifth year starting quarterback for the Pittsburgh Steelers. His career game count is 51-20 in the regular season and 5-2 in the playoffs. That 5-2 includes the Super Bowl ring he won in his second season. His career completion percentage is 62.4 with a TD-INT count of 101-69 and a career passer rating of 89.4. Looking at those numbers, if Ben were a free agent, I would sign him to my team any day of the week.

But for some reason, people don't like Ben Roethlisberger as a quarterback. I'm not here to comment on his motorcycle antics or himself being an immature early 20s adult. He's not Jesus, nor is he perfect. He's human. He makes mistakes. You're not perfect either. But from what I can gather, here is why people don't like Ben Roethlisberger: he gets hurt too often, he gets sacked too often, he holds on to the ball too long, he makes bad decisions and throws INTs. Let me take care of these concerns, two of them legitimate, one of them fair, and the last one just plain preposterous.

Ben gets hurt often. That doesn’t make him a bad quarterback. Many QBs have been injured before him and have led successful careers. I can venture a guess why he gets sacked so often, the Pittsburgh Steelers have a shoddy offensive line. Ben was sacked 47 times last year, and that was with Alan Faneca at guard, the best offensive lineman our line has ever seen. This year the line hasn’t done much better for Ben with 46 sacks. Marvel Smith and Kendall Simmons have been sidelined this year because of injuries. While this may or may not have hurt the line dramatically, I can say that the replacements have not done better than the starters. The sack numbers, however, have not translated into losses. The Steelers finished with a 12 and 4 record in the toughest schedule in the NFL, ranked that way in the pre- and post season. In all the five seasons Ben has been in the league he has been sacked 192 times. I agree, sacks aren’t good, but with our team, it’s not crippling us. Also, Ben has been out for very few games with the injuries he has had. For crying out loud, he played nealy the whole season with a separated shoulder. I hear people calling Ben a wuss for getting injured so much. You can’t call someone a wuss because they get injured, you call someone a wuss when they whine about it. I haven’t heard Ben whine about it. Again, this guy is human, and some QBs get injured more than others.

Ben holds the ball too long. Ok, I can see some merit. I see him holding on to the ball too long and getting sacked. Let’s look at a theory first. There is a prevailing idea that the quarterback is supposed to hold on to the ball anywhere from the snap to 5 seconds after the snap. This is all a well and good idea and that idea works for most quarterbacks. It doesn’t necessarily work for Ben. Ben has the ability to keep the play alive with his mobility. Ben can run with the ball if he wants to, but he would rather stay in the pocket and get the ball to a receiver. Whenever the pocket collapses and he has time, he moves to keep the play alive. We all see this on game day so I don’t need to explain it further. I’ll just go with this; Ben keeps the play alive and makes plays. This is a fact that you cannot deny. The game-winning touchdown in the second Baltimore game was a 9 second play. He pushes the envelope and does it well. Mistakes do happen. I’ll repeat my point; Ben keeps the play alive and makes big plays. All you need to do is watch some highlight reels to see this.

Last concern I hear often is that Ben throws too many INTs. That is simply not true. Ben was doing well this season until he hit a three game slump in which he threw 8 of his 15 INTs this season. Looking at the 15 alone can give you the impression that he makes it a habit of throwing interceptions. It is safe to say that the INTs alone in the Giants and the Colts games were decisive; the other losses of the season cannot be placed solely on those turnovers. When a season is messed up because the quarterback throws too many picks, that is too many interceptions.

Let me tell you about a Hall of Famer who also threw a lot of INTs. His name is Terry Bradshaw. During the ‘74 Super Bowl season, Bradshaw was out for 6 games, at a completion percentage of 45.3 and a QB rating of 55.2 with 7 TDs 8 INTs. Of all the Super Bowl seasons in the ‘70s, the highest QB rating was 88.0 in 1975, and Terry never had a meaningful season with over a 90 QB rating. Back then nobody gave a thought to efficiency, at least in Pittsburgh they didn’t. We looked at our win loss record and our defense. Bradshaw did what he had to do to win games and championships, and he was a great leader on the field. Period.

Ben is a great leader on the field as well. He does command respect from the players and the players love him. He displays poise and maturity in the pocket. He does have experience and plays like it. I have agreed with some people that the Steelers’ offensive scheme is so simple anyone can play in it. Then I came to a realization. Any offensive scheme in the NFL is complicated, especially a spread passing attack like the one used by Bruce Arians. So when I said the Steelers’ scheme was simple, I wasn’t thinking. I retract that statement and say that learning any new scheme as a rookie starter is difficult and many fail the first season. Ben did it, and continues to learn. Anybody who argues with that, comment me. I’ll fight that.

Ben is good. Ben is better than good, he’s great. He does the job and does it well. He doesn’t just throw the ball, he takes responsibility, he leads the team, he calls plays, he plays football. I beg to differ with anyone who says otherwise.