Interesting tid bit of info

[BOXCAR JOEY]

Big ben finished 9# place in the heisman trophy race in 2003. also the same year he was #2 in passer rating when he was in college.

just thought i would share

[Elvis]

Nice Information that I didnt know.
I Love Big Ben and all the intangibles that he brings to our team
and he is gonna rebound I just know it. He is Not the 30-40 pass attempt guy that alot of people want him to be though. We
must keep our running game strong and our
defense Intimidating and we will be
just fine...

[tony hipchest]

why is he not the 30-40 pass attempt per game guy?

hes a qb right? he knows how to toss the ball? his arm isnt weak or diseased is it?

then he is that guy. otherwise the steelers wouldve gotten rid of him rather than the coaching staff that turned him into a 20 attempt/game passer.

[Livinginthe past]

A guy who is not capable of throwing the ball 30-40 times, and throwing it well, when required is simply not that good a QB.

The days of the Steelers being able to bend other teams to their will by power running up the gut and playing crushing defense are gone.

Ben will be due a big payday soon enough - it would be wise for the Steelers to find out whether they have a QB or a game manager before they decide whether to pay him 'franchise QB' money.

For the record, I have always maintained that Ben will be an excellent QB - although a single season is a fairly large % of his career to date - there are enough mitigating circumstances to think that last year will be an anomaly.

[Florida_Steelers_Fan]

Originally Posted by Livinginthe past

The days of the Steelers being able to bend other teams to their will by power running up the gut and playing crushing defense are gone.

i totally disagree with this statement. the steelers are a team built on running the football and always will. even when erhardt was running those 5 receiver sets with o'donnell at qb, they still ran the ball with foster/morris.

i think we're all overreacting to cowher's loss and some comments made by the players (ie. faneca) regarding tomlin. none of these statements are based on facts (as your presumption also shows)...nothing more than innuendo's based upon opinions.

can we at least have one practice before we start making this stuff up?

[Livinginthe past]

Originally Posted by Florida_Steelers_Fan

i totally disagree with this statement. the steelers are a team built on running the football and always will. even when erhardt was running those 5 receiver sets with o'donnell at qb, they still ran the ball with foster/morris.

i think we're all overreacting to cowher's loss and some comments made by the players (ie. faneca) regarding tomlin. none of these statements are based on facts (as your presumption also shows)...nothing more than innuendo's based upon opinions.

can we at least have one practice before we start making this stuff up?

It is my opinion that in the salary cap era building a team as dominant as the 70's Steelers is nigh on impossible - and by dominant, I mean you know what they are going to bring but they are so superior at executing it that you are unable to stop them.

Team in recent times have tasted SB success by being flexible in their approach to offensive philosophy - the Patriots like to feed the ball to the RB plenty but have shown a desire to go 5-wide alot - spreading the field out.

Best example of that was against the Vikes last year - best run D in the country , so the Patriots simply didnt try to run - they spread 'em wide and killed them with a 1000 short passes.

The Colts this past year learnt to stop heaving the ball down the field in the postseason, they realised the benefits of committing to a running game and giving their D a breather.

They also had Manning throwing dump offs, quick outs and slants - to go with what was having the most effectiveness.

The Steelers put the ball in Roethlisbergers hands two years ago in the postseason and bar one game it worked very well.

The one thing I consistently criticised Cowher for was being one dimensional and stubborn - for not realising running Bettis up the gut against a good run D is not always going to pay dividends.

In the SB winning year he was able to shelve that disposition and success was his - no coincidence, I think.

Im pretty sure Belichick would love nothing more than for the Steelers to roll into New England this year determined to run the ball at all costs - teams excel these days at taking away an element of a teams offense.

To prosper you must be able to adapt.

NM

[Florida_Steelers_Fan]

you still (and in my opinion, always will) win championships by doing two things well: run the football on offense and stop the run on defense. roethlisberger may end up being a very good qb when his career is all said and done, but the steelers will find success when they run teams over and control the clock...running the football is a mindset, and tomlin understands this very well.

adapt, yes...but don't over-adapt. it's still a simple game and building a "passing" team doesn't work as we learned a three/four years ago when the steelers tried to let tommy maddox win via the pass and the steelers got away from their "bread and butter" of power football.

[SteelShooter]

But keep in mind, most teams are so committed to stopping our run that, that in itself opens up our passing game.

I believe, IMHO, that we should still stick to the run as the core of our offense, but pick up the pass just a little more, maybe the 22-30 passes per game neighborhood.

But we do need a nice, tall, speedy WR to assist in opening that field up a smidge.

[19ward86]

big ben is definitaly able to throw 30-40 times a game, in college he threw a hell of a lot. he threw for like 3500 in college, considering only about 12 games a year that is a crap load of yards.

[BIGBENFASTWILLIE]

Originally Posted by Florida_Steelers_Fan

i totally disagree with this statement. the steelers are a team built on running the football and always will. even when erhardt was running those 5 receiver sets with o'donnell at qb, they still ran the ball with foster/morris.

i think we're all overreacting to cowher's loss and some comments made by the players (ie. faneca) regarding tomlin. none of these statements are based on facts (as your presumption also shows)...nothing more than innuendo's based upon opinions.

can we at least have one practice before we start making this stuff up?

The team that was built around the run just had its play book thrown out the window and redone by a receivers coach..........This doesnt make you wonder