wow some of you really know very little about football
Anyone who says the Steelers don't have a GREAT offensive line is either trying to make Big Ben look like Dan Marino 2, or not the football know-it-all they think they are.
Look at their rushing stats, look at the number of QB sacks, look at their record.
Yes, last year the Steelers struggled, but remember, last year Tommy Maddox was the QB, Amos Zeroue was the starting RB, and 3 and 4 WR sets were used quite often. Zeroue couldn't do anything right, Maddox threw pics all over the place, and they played catch-up most of the time, getting off to a horrible start.
I dislike Bill Cowher as much as any coach in sports, but I'll give him credit - he turned the Steelers back into what they do best - a running team. Staley, along with the rebirth of the Bus, have pretty much pounded teams into submission. Ben probably sees as much single coverage on his WR's as any QB in the league.
What Ben has done is a great accomplishment, but his stats in these games, other than wins and losses, aren't exactly eye-popping. He looks like a solid NFL QB for years to come, but I say that if you were to switch him and Eli, Ben's numbers wouldn't be any more impressive than Eli's have been - the Giants O-Line is among the worst in the league, Shockey drops as many passes as he catches, and the overall speed of the Giants WR's doesn't scare any of the teams they play.
I'm not saying Eli would be 11-0, or whatever Ben is, as the Steelers QB, but I'd be willing to bet that 10-1, maybe 9-2, would still be very much within his reach. Other than the late drive against Jacksonville, I don't think Ben has really won any games for the Steelers, but he's done a good job keeping the turnovers to a minimum, and the Steelers D has been dominating.
I have to add one more thing about Ben - he played QB for ONE year in HS - no one, early in his college career at Miami of OHIO (not Florida), was saying he was NFL material. Yes, he had a nice career there, but the level of competition in the MAC (let me say that I think the MAC is very underrated - better than the Big East this year) isn't the same as the level that Manning and Rivers faced - and the toughest game they had last year was against Iowa, where Ben didn't play well at all - he was still a first round pick, so it's not like he slid off the radar for most teams, but I can completely understand why that game may have turned a team or two 'off' of him.
I think Eli will be fine. Those of you saying that he was only drafted where he was because his last name is Manning are worse than the people saying the Steelers don't have a good O-Line. Eli played at Miss - not Tennesse, Auburn, LSU, or Georgia - for that team to win 10 games last year was quite an accomplishment, and his physical skills are at least the equal of Peyton's coming out of college. I'm not saying he'll be as good as Peyton - I'm just saying that if there was no Peyton Manning, Eli's still a top 5 pick in last year's draft. I will say that I think his "name" probably was the final factor in the Giants making their trade - their fans were much more likely to buy more season tickets than if they had just made a trade for Phillip Rivers (who? to most NFL fans at the time).
I'm actually going to agree with those of you that said Rivers was their top-rated guy coming out last year (but he comparison about NCAA stats and the team's records this year was ridiculous). Rivers was very impressive at NC.St, the scouts were abuzz about him during the Sr. Bowl practices. Let's not forget that Brees, and the Chargers as a whole, did not play well last year - I don't blame them at all for seeming to give up on Brees last year - in fact, prior to the draft, they offered him to a number of teams, and no one took him - so it's not like the Chargers were the only team down on him.
That said, he's had a great season, Antonio Gates has emerged as his favorite target, and his importance cannot be understated. Their WR's, even with the addition of McCardell, aren't very good, though R.Caldwell was off to a nice start..but with Gates around, teams have to plan for him and Tomlinson, and much like Ben, Brees is seeing his WR's with a ton of single coverage, which most NFL QB's can take advantage of.
I think they will franchise Brees, but I also wouldn't be surprised to see them trade him after that and let Rivers take over - I think the cap implications for them are much worse if they move Rivers. Besides, having two good QB's isn't a bad problem to have. Also, they have some extra draft picks coming up, look for them to grab a WR and a young LB.
Also, you may hate USC and/or the Bengals, but to say that Carson Palmer is a bust, or that he stinks, is 100% wrong. He's been very impresssive in the 2nd half of this season, and if the Bengals can get some help defensively next year, and add a TE, they are going to be tough.
As for the upcoming draft, I think Rodgers is much more impressive than Leinhart is (assuming they both come out). I really don't know why Leinhart would return to USC next year though, time to move on.
