Ben Roethlisberger is our John Elway

[Gnutella]

Here are John Elway's career statistics split between his first 10 seasons in the NFL and his last six...


1983-1992

2,375/4,339, 30,216 yards, 158 TD, 157 INT

54.7% completion
212.8 yards per game
7.0 yards per attempt

3.6% TD
3.6% INT
1.01 TD/INT ratio

331 sacks
7.1% sack

73.8 rating

1993-1998

1,748/2,911, 21,259 yards, 142 TD, 69 INT

60.0% completion
238.9 yards per game
7.3 yards per attempt

4.9% TD
2.4% INT
2.06 TD/INT ratio

185 sacks
6.0% sack

88.9 rating

And here's Elway's injury history...

1983: Injured during the fifth game, did not play the next four games

1984: Injured during the first game, active but did not start the next game

1986: Injured during the third game, started the next game

1987: Injured during the second game, did not play the next three games

1990: Injured during the eighth game, started the next game

1992: Injured during the 10th game, did not play the next four games

1994: Injured during the 13th game, did not play the next game; injured during the 15th game, did not play the next game

1995: Injured during the 10th game, started the next game

1998: Injured during the third game, did not play the next two games; injured during the ninth game, did not play the next game

John Elway had moments of greatness during his first 10 years in the NFL, but was not the most consistent QB. He had plenty of good games with some great games embedded therein, but every now and then he'd have some bad games too, and his bad games were terrible. He also had a lengthy injury history, and people said he took too many sacks. Does this all sound familiar? It should.

If Bronco fans were like Steeler fans, then many of them would have started calling Elway "dumb" by 1990, claiming that he's not "cerebral" enough to ever be a great QB, and asking why he couldn't be more like Joe Montana, Dan Marino, Troy Aikman or Jim Kelly. Other fans would have lamented the decline of the Broncos by pointing to Elway's injury history, claiming that he was on the downside of his career, and that his best days were in the past. Some would even go so far as to suggest trading him away.

Of course, as we all know, Elway's best days were yet to come, and he became a better and more consistent QB during his last six seasons in the league than he was during his first 10 seasons. The Broncos gave him a stellar offensive line and an excellent running game, which brought out the best in him. Nobody tried to discredit him for having such a good supporting cast either, nor did anybody question his greatness despite a poor stat line when he finally won his first Super Bowl.

We're blessed to have our John Elway now. His name is Ben Roethlisberger, and he needs to be given more respect. If Elway and the Broncos weren't done by 1992, then Roethlisberger and the Steelers sure as hell aren't done now. And if Elway was a great QB, then goddamn it; Roethlisberger is a great QB too.

[GMU Steeler]

Didn't the Broncos draft Tommy Maddox in 1992 with him to be Elway's successor? Anyhow, not arguing with your point, we're fortunate to have Ben and I do think it's possible that he has another SB win or maybe even two in him. You don't know what you have until you've lost it and we'd discover that immediately if we lost Ben. I would not be opposed to signing a young backup for him though.

[steelfury02]

Originally Posted by Gnutella

Here are John Elway's career statistics split between his first 10 seasons in the NFL and his last six...


1983-1992

2,375/4,339, 30,216 yards, 158 TD, 157 INT

54.7% completion
212.8 yards per game
7.0 yards per attempt

3.6% TD
3.6% INT
1.01 TD/INT ratio

331 sacks
7.1% sack

73.8 rating

1993-1998

1,748/2,911, 21,259 yards, 142 TD, 69 INT

60.0% completion
238.9 yards per game
7.3 yards per attempt

4.9% TD
2.4% INT
2.06 TD/INT ratio

185 sacks
6.0% sack

88.9 rating

And here's Elway's injury history...

1983: Injured during the fifth game, did not play the next four games

1984: Injured during the first game, active but did not start the next game

1986: Injured during the third game, started the next game

1987: Injured during the second game, did not play the next three games

1990: Injured during the eighth game, started the next game

1992: Injured during the 10th game, did not play the next four games

1994: Injured during the 13th game, did not play the next game; injured during the 15th game, did not play the next game

1995: Injured during the 10th game, started the next game

1998: Injured during the third game, did not play the next two games; injured during the ninth game, did not play the next game

John Elway had moments of greatness during his first 10 years in the NFL, but was not the most consistent QB. He had plenty of good games with some great games embedded therein, but every now and then he'd have some bad games too, and his bad games were terrible. He also had a lengthy injury history, and people said he took too many sacks. Does this all sound familiar? It should.

If Bronco fans were like Steeler fans, then many of them would have started calling Elway "dumb" by 1990, claiming that he's not "cerebral" enough to ever be a great QB, and asking why he couldn't be more like Joe Montana, Dan Marino, Troy Aikman or Jim Kelly. Other fans would have lamented the decline of the Broncos by pointing to Elway's injury history, claiming that he was on the downside of his career, and that his best days were in the past. Some would even go so far as to suggest trading him away.

Of course, as we all know, Elway's best days were yet to come, and he became a better and more consistent QB during his last six seasons in the league than he was during his first 10 seasons. The Broncos gave him a stellar offensive line and an excellent running game, which brought out the best in him. Nobody tried to discredit him for having such a good supporting cast either, nor did anybody question his greatness despite a poor stat line when he finally won his first Super Bowl.

We're blessed to have our John Elway now. His name is Ben Roethlisberger, and he needs to be given more respect. If Elway and the Broncos weren't done by 1992, then Roethlisberger and the Steelers sure as hell aren't done now. And if Elway was a great QB, then goddamn it; Roethlisberger is a great QB too.

Gnutella - THANK YOU x six trajillion. COME ON PEOPLE.

[wwhickok]

So he is gonna buy the team?(based soley on the title) OH GOD!!

[harrison'samonster]

very well said, thanks for the post. There's no reason for us to start counting down until Roethlisberger's done, or calling him done.

What we need to do is give him better weapons. Wallace/Brown and Dwyer/Redman aren't going to be a supporting cast to win it all.

[wwhickok]

Gnutella, very interesting post, I like it.

[Gnutella]

Originally Posted by GMU Steeler

Didn't the Broncos draft Tommy Maddox in 1992 with him to be Elway's successor? Anyhow, not arguing with your point, we're fortunate to have Ben and I do think it's possible that he has another SB win or maybe even two in him. You don't know what you have until you've lost it and we'd discover that immediately if we lost Ben. I would not be opposed to signing a young backup for him though.

Honestly, the way some of our fan base treat Roethlisberger, I'd rather the Steelers just get some younger veterans to be the backup QBs. You think all the talk about how the Steelers should trade Roethlisberger is stupid? Drafting a young QB will do nothing but kick that ignorant shit into overdrive, and then we'll have a bunch of fucking morons clamoring for the young guy the next time Roethlisberger throws two INTs in a game.

[GMU Steeler]

Originally Posted by Gnutella

Honestly, the way some of our fan base treat Roethlisberger, I'd rather the Steelers just get some younger veterans to be the backup QBs. You think all the talk about how the Steelers should trade Roethlisberger is stupid? Drafting a young QB will do nothing but kick that ignorant shit into overdrive, and then we'll have a bunch of fucking morons clamoring for the young guy the next time Roethlisberger throws two INTs in a game.

Younger vet is what I mean by younger guy. Didn't say I wanted to draft someone. Someone who fits what Batch was when we first got him in 2002. Someone who knows he's not a starter but can play in a pinch ya know?

[Gnutella]

Originally Posted by harrison'samonster

What we need to do is give him better weapons. Wallace/Brown and Dwyer/Redman aren't going to be a supporting cast to win it all.

Ben Roethlisberger has had the worst weapons of any top-tier QB in the NFL in the last five years. The offensive line and RBs have been mediocre if not downright bad, and the WRs have been overrated. Heath Miller and Maurkice Pouncey have literally been the only other players on offense who have been consistently good.

[steelfury02]

Originally Posted by Gnutella

Honestly, the way some of our fan base treat Roethlisberger, I'd rather the Steelers just get some younger veterans to be the backup QBs. You think all the talk about how the Steelers should trade Roethlisberger is stupid? Drafting a young QB will do nothing but kick that ignorant shit into overdrive, and then we'll have a bunch of fucking morons clamoring for the young guy the next time Roethlisberger throws two INTs in a game.

and if you think 8-8 is bad people, having to endure another O'Donnel/Tomczak/Stewart/Maddox era will make me go full on barf mode. For the love of God, remember 5-3 and the Giants game. If we get supporting cast to produce at that level, we are untouchable, i.e. steamrolling the AFC to the tune of the late 90s Broncos.

GET A HOLD OF YOURSELF BEN HATERS. The man's got some stuff left, some real championship quality potential left in him. Cool it.