The 2008 season will go down as one of the best in Steelers history. It was a year that had the perfect ending, but the journey to that point was far from ideal. We’ll take a position-by-position look at the season that was – both good and bad. To start, we examined the running backs and defensive lineman.
Today, we’ll be looking back at the seasons of Ben Roethlisberger and Byron Leftwich – the QB’s.
Big Ben Roethlisberger
Regular Season: 3,301 yards, 17 TDs, 15 INTs, 80.1 Rating
Playoffs: 692 yards, 3 TDs, 1 INT, 91.6 Rating
No way around it, Big Ben didn’t have a great regular season. One of the most troubling things we saw this year was Roethlisberger fall back into 2006 form. He had the greatest regular season ever for any Steelers QB in 2007 and looked more like Maddox than Bradshaw just a year later.
But here’s the catch: you can’t define Roethlisberger by stats.
We’re not big numbers guys, but we know people who are. If you show them a QB with an 80.1 rating, they’ll say no way that team is making a deep playoff run, let alone winning a Super Bowl.
They would obviously be wrong.
(Arguably) more than any QB in NFL history, Roethilsberger is all about winning. No QB has won more games during their first five seasons and Ben’s also won a pair of Super Bowl rings. Personally, we don’t care how it gets done, but he always finds a way.
Just look at some of the games from this season. 92 yards in under three minutes at Baltimore with a division title on the line. A blue collar, six minute drive in the fourth quarter leading to a game winning Jeff Reed field goal against San Diego. An 80 yard drive at Jacksonville with Ben throwing his 3rd TD of the game to take the lead with under two minutes to go.
Oh, and that one drive to win the Super Bowl wasn’t bad either.
Sure, he sucked balls against Indianapolis and New York during the middle of the season, but it’s safe to say Roethlisberger singlehandedly won more games this year than he blew.
It sucks for Roethlisberger that he plays in a city that hates quarterbacks with a passion. In all my life, I can’t think of a QB that Steeler fans have embraced and fully appreciated. Even Terry Bradshaw was hated by the fans during his time in Pittsburgh.
I remember fans begging for Byron Leftwich to start the playoff game against San Diego because Roethilsberger was dinged up and hadn’t played well in recent weeks. Norm even had to write a post defending Roethlisberger’s stake as the starting QB during the middle of the season.
Look, he’s not immune to criticism. But the Steelers have the best young QB ever to play the game in Roethlisberger. He’s won two Super Bowls in five years. Isn’t it time to cut him a little bit of slack?
2008 is a great example of why Ben Roethlisberger is a perfect QB for the Pittsburgh Steelers. It wasn’t always pretty and he didn’t put up flashy stats, but when the lights were on and the season was on the line, he delivered time and time again. He fought through injuries and a terrible offensive line and just kept going to work.
Growing up, we were taught that winning was everything and Steeler fans weren’t about flashy stats. Pittsburgh is supposed to play smashmouth football and Ben Roethlisberger is the perfect guy for the job.
Forget about his stats (or lack thereof) and just enjoy the fact that Roethlisberger is going to be one of the most successful quarterbacks to ever play the game and we’ve have a chance to watch him in his prime.
Byron Leftwich
Regular Season: 303 yards, 2 TDs, 0 INTs
Playoffs: DNP
We can’t say enough good words about Byron Leftwich. The guy got the call to come in to training camp late, he learned the system quickly, and delivered every single time he was called upon. If that isn’t the perfect description of a backup QB, then I don’t know what is.
The fact that Leftwich ended up a Steeler in the first place shows how much of a stooge convention some of the other NFL franchises really are. You can’t tell me that five or six other teams wouldn’t have killed to have him be their starter. Teams like Detroit have to shudder when they see the Steelers had Roethlisberger, Leftwich, Chuck Batch, and Dennis Dixon on their roster while they were playing Orlovsky, Culpepper, and Kitna. The Steelers have 3 QBs as good as or better than any of those guys and Dixon had more upside than anybody the Lions suited up.
I think Leftwich will be a starter for another team next season and we’ll be really happy for him. He caught a tough break in Jacksonville and wasn’t treated fairly at all by that organization. This season proved he can still sling it and deserves another chance to play every week. Even the Steelers won’t get lucky enough to have him play second fiddle two years in a row.
Do you think Roethlisberger is an elite QB? Is he treated fairly by Steeler fans? Will Leftwich be a Steeler again next season? Hit up the comments.
